Town mourns intent young man killed in Iraq

Chris Maag
Seattle Times staff reporter

ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Soldiers Nicholas Lewis, left, and James Green fold a flag that covered Spc. Justin Hebert's casket, in the foreground, before the flag was presented to his family. Lewis, who served with Hebert and accompanied his body home, called him "my little brother" and "one of my dearest friends."

SILVANA, Snohomish County — The procession for Justin Hebert's funeral yesterday stretched from one side of Arlington to the other.

Outside of town, the line of cars followed the navy blue hearse in a slow crawl past cornfields, through Hebert's tiny hometown of Silvana, where five people stood silently by the side of the road, their right hands over their hearts.

"He was always a well-mannered, proper-behaving kid," said Larry Heiser, a local resident who attended Hebert's memorial service in the gymnasium of Arlington's Post Middle School. "I just know him from watching him grow up in town. It's a small town."

Spc. Hebert, an Army paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, was killed Aug. 1 when his convoy was attacked with rocket-propelled grenades in Iraq. He had celebrated his 20th birthday four days earlier.

About 350 people gathered at the middle school for the memorial service, and most followed the procession to the Zion Lutheran Cemetery, which sits next to the historic Little White Church on the Hill outside the rural community of Silvana.

Mourners' attire ranged from maroon berets to white Stetson hats, black suits to blue plaid shirts, white sneakers to shiny black combat boots.

There were World War II veterans in blue suits from the American Legion and younger men in black leather chaps from Combat Veterans International, a nascent motorcycle club and veterans-support group.

"We've lost a lot of brothers," said Norm Holgate, a club member. "It doesn't matter if you're Army, Navy, whatever. We're all brothers."

ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES Mourners hug Bill Hebert, father of Spc. Justin Hebert, killed in Iraq, and Robin Hebert, right, the soldier's mother. At left, holding one of two flags presented to the family, is sister Jessica Hebert.

Hebert received a full military funeral. A soldier played taps. Hebert's mother, Robin, was presented her son's Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals.

Many who attended the services recalled Justin Hebert before he joined the Army, a shy, quiet kid who dreamed of a life beyond rural Snohomish County.

Hebert was so intent on leaving this small town that he committed to joining the Army when he was 17. He was still a junior at Arlington High School and needed his parents' signature to enlist, said his father, Bill Hebert.

Hebert spent his senior year running and lifting weights, getting ready for the Army by adding muscle to his thin frame, said Casey Brown, Hebert's aunt. A few days after graduation he left the trailer park that his father manages just outside Silvana and started boot camp.

"He knew he wanted to see the world and go to college," said Dan Hebert, Justin's uncle. "The way the economy is, the service is just about the only chance these kids have."

Hebert thrived in the Army. He met a girlfriend in Germany, partied in nightclubs in Italy and earned 40 college credits studying business administration over the Internet.

ALAN BERNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES American Legionnaires from the Stanwood chapter linger after paying their respects at yesterday's funeral for Army Spc. Justin Hebert, 20, killed in Iraq. In the background is the historic Little White Church on the Hill in the Snohomish County town of Silvana, where Hebert grew up.

"He always seemed like a quiet little boy," Casey Brown said. "But when he came back, he had blossomed. He started talking, and he had a lot to say. He became a man."

And Hebert met friends in the Army who shared his interests and helped him grow.

"It's hard for his family to believe, but Justin loved dancing," said Sgt. Nicholas Matthew Lewis, who grew up in Hawaii and served in Hebert's airborne unit. Lewis accompanied Hebert's coffin home from Iraq. "Justin and I had a likeness of mentality. We spent just about every day together."

Hebert's family last saw him in January when he was home on leave. In March his unit was sent to Iraq, parachuting into the country in the middle of a rainstorm. During the war, Hebert worked as a fire-support specialist, using laser-guidance equipment to direct air attacks on Iraqi positions.

Since President Bush declared the end of major combat in Iraq on May 1, Hebert's unit worked to enforce night curfews. Hebert was driving an unarmored vehicle on a curfew patrol when his unit came under fire, his father said. The Defense Department has not yet released further details of the attack.

A total of 268 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the beginning of the conflict there, according to The Associated Press. Of those, 130 have died since May 1.

"We need to get the word out — the war isn't over yet," Dan Hebert said at yesterday's funeral.

Chris Maag: (206) 464-8450 or cmaag@seattltimes.com