Paltry protest fails to deter patriotic mourners

REMEMBERING WHO’S GONE:
The Munns family listens to others reminisce about Joshua during his funeral at the Anderson-Cottonwood Neighborhood Church.

THEIR OWN AGENDA:
With national news attention focused on the Munns family tragedy, a group of people from Kansas took the opportunity to get their opinions noticed. About 1,000 people showed up to support the family and overshadowed the small group of three demonstrators.

MOURNING JOSHUA:
Mark and Christa Munns, far right, walk with their deceased son Joshua’s fiancee, Jackie Shaw of Redding, through a phalanx of flag-bearing community members on Saturday afternoon at the Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo. Joshua’s fellow U.S. Marines are in the background.

The cremated remains of Joshua Mark Munns, 25, were laid to rest Saturday, April 12, at the Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo with full military honors.

More than a dozen of Munns’ buddies from the U.S. Marine Corps, some of whom he served with during his two active tours of duty in Iraq, honored their fallen comrade in arms both during the inurnment and earlier at a noon memorial service held at the Anderson-Cottonwood Neighborhood Church in Anderson.

“What I saw in Josh was the quintessential Marine. He was a warrior and one of the finest soldiers I have ever seen. He was my best friend,” said Caleb Stevonivich, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps with Joshua two days after they both graduated from Anderson Union High School in June of 2001.

The 90-minute church service drew more than 700 mourners, 470 of whom crowded the church’s overflowing sanctuary, stood in connecting hallways, sat several rows deep in an entry area or listened to outdoor loudspeakers while seated at picnic tables and chairs on the church’s covered porchway.

The adjacent parking lot held another 200 or more motorcycles and their leather-clad riders, most of them military veterans proudly bearing large U.S. flags and poles as a patriotic show of force.

“Josh was our brother even though most of us never met him,” said Alan Pence, a member of the United Bikers of Northern California.

Other riding clubs came from California, Oregon and Nevada and represented the Vietnam Veterans, Patriotic Guard Riders, Prisoners of War – Missing In Action, American Legion Ride, U.S. Marines Motorcyclists and the Harley Owners Group, said ride organizer Jeff Nelson of Anderson.

Further down the road, well away from the church and its parking lot, stood three war protesters, members of the Westboro Baptist church in Topeka, Kan. They wore upside-down American flags at their waists and carried signs with homophobic and doomsday slogans. Because the group has been designated by various state and federal courts as an official hate group, they were forced to stand behind a chalk line 300 feet from the church property, and were surrounded by seven Shasta County sheriff’s deputies.

The protesters were hardly noticed by family members who were overwhelmed by the show of community, military and patriotic support.

“Josh was never much for ceremony,” said Christa Munns, his stepmother and the woman who raised him from a young age. “He would have been amazed by all of the bikers out there,” she continued as well-wishers offered her their support and condolences following the memorial service.

“Frankly, I don’t know if I would have made it myself without all of the love and support of the community,” Mrs. Munns later told fellow school teacher Liz Dykstra. “Everyone has been just great.”

Throughout the memorial service, family members, friends, former schoolmates, past Little League coaches and those who were simply touched by Joshua Munns’ story — while working as a civilian contractor guarding a convoy of supplies being hauled from a Kuwait port city to a U.S. military airbase in southern Iraq, Munns and four of his fellow contractors were abducted on Nov. 16, 2006, by an extremist terrorist group posing as Iraqi police at a fake checkpoint — laughed at photographs and videotapes of a curly-haired Josh Munns sleeping with his dogs, playing baseball, enjoying family outings to Alaska, San Diego’s Sea World and the Oregon coast or just hanging around home in Anderson or attending school activities and graduation ceremonies at Anderson Union High School.

Inspired by a book on military history that he read while finishing high school, Munns joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served two active duty tours in Iraq prior to his honorable discharge in 2005. He returned home to his fiancee Jackie Shaw and a job installing swimming pools for a Redding company, but soon craved the excitement that living in a war zone provides. Before signing on with Crescent Security Group, a private contracting firm, Josh briefly toyed with applying as a police officer in Reno, Nev., where he could work beside his uncle, Jack Munns.

The two were close. In 2000, Jack Munns took his nephew, Josh, then 17, to Kenya, Africa, the summer before Josh graduated high school. “Josh was always complaining about the smells of Africa” because the people there “don’t bathe as often as we do here,” Jack Munns remembered.

The memorial and graveside services were conducted by Pastor Brad Manley, who urged the Munns family and all who attended the memorial and inurnment services to make God the true center of all things.

“Drawing close to God, as Job did in the Old Testament lesson, does not mean that all things become clear and easy,” Manley cautioned. “Therefore, as we grieve together our loss of Josh, we will not find comfort in pushing God out of the picture or blaming Him for our loss.”

The Anderson community will draw close to the Munns family on Friday, April 18, with a two-hour fundraiser planned from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. at the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 9650, 3210 W. Center St. in Anderson. Many in the memorial service audience could be seen clutching pale blue flyers promoting the fundraising dinner and dessert auction.

For $10 per person, an expected 400 attendees will enjoy barbecued tri-tip or chicken prepared by Anderson Rotary, vegetables provided by city employees, baked beans from the Anderson Lions club, scalloped potatoes from the Exchange Club and non-alcoholic beverages provided by Anderson Kiwanis. The Anderson Chamber of Commerce is providing a green salad and the Soroptimists are kicking in donations to cover plates, napkins, cups and plastic utensils, said event organizers Wes Smith and Keith Webster, both acting as private citizens and members of the community.

Carryout orders are welcomed, as are donations in lieu of attending. To preorder a dinner, call 378-7000 during regular business hours.