No protest at Utah soldier's funeral

LAYTON — St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church Monsignor Victor G. Bonnell said any controversy connected with the funeral Friday for 19-year-old Army Pfc. Daniel Dolan should remain outside of the services.

As it turned out, a group of pickets from Kansas who had threatened to stir up controversy stayed away from Utah altogether.

Even the rain held off until just after the conclusion of a burial ceremony with full military honors at the Roy Cemetery.

For the Catholic funeral mass in Layton, Dolan's body was escorted into St. Rose by 16 officers from different law enforcement agencies and 10 members of the Knights of Columbus, dressed in their full regalia.

At the end of the burial that followed in Roy, Brig. Gen. Walt Davis presented Dolan's family members with a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Infantry Badge, all posthumously awarded to Dolan.

More than 300 people, including members of the national group Patriot Guard Riders, surrounded Dolan's flag-covered casket in Roy as "Taps" and "Amazing Grace" were played. Seven soldiers fired their weapons three times for the traditional 21-gun salute.

Hardest for many of those in attendance was a ceremonial roll call, during which other soldiers replied, "Here!" Dolan's name was repeated, with no answer each time.

Dolan, a graduate of Roy High School, was killed Aug. 27 in Iraq during an ambush on his vehicle. One week earlier, Marine Cpl. Adam Galvez, 21, of Salt Lake City, was also killed when an explosive device donated near his vehicle in Iraq.

Members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church had threatened to picket both funerals. They didn't show up to either one. They have, however, turned up at other military funerals, claiming that soldiers are dying because the United States is being punished for its tolerance of homosexuals.

For the Galvez funeral, a church member said the group couldn't make it because soldiers were dying too "fast and furious" to attend every funeral.

The group's reason for not showing up at the Dolan funeral was that seven members from the 70-member church in Kansas were "diverted" to Illinois for a military funeral there, according to Jonathan Phelps, a criminal defense lawyer and son of Westboro Pastor Fred Phelps. He did not say who made the decision or why.

Just in case Westboro members did show up at the Galvez and Dolan funerals, dozens of men and women on motorcycles lined the streets near the churches and burial sites, holding large American flags to help hide protesters from family members.