TERRE HAUTE — A city and a nation bid farewell Wednesday to a fallen son, brother, friend and soldier.
The flag-draped casket of U.S. Army Sgt. Dale Griffin, 29, sat in the middle of the Terre Haute South Vigo High School gymnasium as hundreds of people, many in military uniforms, many from long distances away, filed into the school where Griffin was a student, a wrestler, a football player and member of the show choir before graduating in 1999.
“Dale marched to the beat of his own drum,” said longtime friend Gabe Euratte, who was one of several speakers at Griffin’s funeral service. Griffin, who was killed in action as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan on Oct. 27, had a love of life, competitive spirit and the ability to lift up those around him, his friend said.
“You couldn’t be down around Dale,” Euratte said. But “sometimes he would knock you down when you needed knocked down.”
Sgt. Dale Griffin was killed in Afghanistan about four years after enlisting in the Army in 2005. He wanted to join to defend freedom, his friends and family said. Griffin told Euratte, who tried to talk him out of joining the military, he would live his life with regret if he didn’t serve his country. There was no changing Dale’s mind, Euratte said.
Also at Wednesday afternoon’s funeral service, which was attended by more than 1,000 people, Griffin was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. His parents, Gene and Dona Griffin of Terre Haute, accepted the awards, signed by the United States Secretary of the Army, on their late son’s behalf.
Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett also read a proclamation during the service declaring Wednesday a “Day of Honor” in the city for Sgt. Dale Griffin and other fallen and serving American veterans. “He’s a true American hero,” Bennett said.
U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth also paid tribute to Sgt. Griffin at Wednesday’s service. “Each of us here today has been touched by Dale’s life,” Ellsworth said.
Sgt. Griffin’s name became part of national and world news when his casket’s arrival at Dover Air Force Base was greeted by a saluting President Barack Obama during the early morning hours of Oct. 29.
The Griffin family has “been held in the arms of a mourning nation,” Gene Griffin said during the service.
“He chose to answer his nation’s call,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Scott West, who also spoke during the service. “In confronting …evil, he made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Prior to the service, which began at 2 p.m., the south entrance to the South Vigo gymnasium was lined with more than 100 large American flags held by members of the Patriot Guard Riders, a group that rides in support of fallen servicemen and women across the country. Inside, about 500 people sat in folding chairs on the gymnasium floor and more than 500 filled the bleachers. About 100 members of a Bloomington-based choir and several musicians performed during the two-hour service.
The choir performed “Be Still my Soul,” the Battle Hymn of the Republic and “I Know that My Redeemer Lives.” Near the end of the service, the choir sang “God Be With You Till We Meet Again” as many in the large crowd joined in.
“Dale believed in the cause of liberty,” said Dona Griffin, who also spoke during the service. She recounted the last few communications she and her family received from Dale during October. He wanted his mother and family to know how much he loved them all, she said.
Dale “fiercely loved his friends,” Dona Griffin added.
Fighting back tears, Dona Griffin also read the names of six other soldiers and one Afghan civilian killed in the same roadside bomb attack that took her son’s life. “They left this life together,” she said.
Dale Griffin loved the Terre Haute area and hoped to raise a family here after completing his military service, Gene Griffin said during the ceremony. Some people believed Dale was invincible, Gene added, and cannot believe he is really gone.
“He lived life to the fullest,” Gene Griffin said of his son. A strong faith has allowed the Griffin family to make it through this difficult time, he added.
Clint Griffin, one of Dale’s two brothers, also fighting strong emotions, read the benediction at the conclusion of the service. Then uniformed members of the military carried Griffin’s casket out of the gymnasium while the entire assembly stood in respectful silence.
To those who knew Dale Griffin, “he was a hero already,” said Vigo County Judge Chris Newton, who conducted the service and spoke just before it concluded. “Now everybody else knows what we knew before.”
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
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