burlingtonfreepress.com
Marine Cpl. Ian Muller is laid to rest Saturday at the
Danville Green Cemetary in Danville. Muller,
who grew up in North Danville,
was killed in Afghanistan on March 11.
/ (STEVE LEGGE/Caledonian Record)
Vermont paid tribute to U.S. Marine Cpl. Ian Muller Saturday, and the American flags were out in force.
Big ones flew at half-mast in front of the library and the post office here, in his hometown. Medium-sized ones fluttered in front of shops and residences, from the town center up through North Danville, where his family lives.
Dozens of little ones were stuck in snowbanks alongside U.S. 5, the road that led to his memorial service at the Union Baptist Church in Waterford.
The funeral for Muller, who died March 11 at age 22 during combat in Afghanistan, was well attended. The sanctuary, with seating for 470, was mostly filled. Gov. Peter Shumlin was there, as were U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch.
Outside, about 30 Patriot Guard Riders — a motorcycle club comprising mostly veterans — stood vigil, each with a flag. Rumor had it that a delegation of the Westboro Baptist Church — the Kansas-based sect known for protesting military funerals — had been spotted in the region. If they showed up, either at the funeral or at the cemetery, the Riders planned to “stand between them and the family,” said club spokesman Bob Wheeler of Swanton.
Westboro didn’t show up in either place.
Inside the Union Baptist Church, Muller was remembered as a colorful, spirited friend, and as a good son, and as an exemplary Marine. He served as point man for his combat unit, said his pastor, Carl Durham. When Muller was asked why he would expose himself to that risk, Durham said, Muller explained that most of his fellow Marines had spouses and children but that he didn’t.
Muller was an athlete and a bodybuilder, an accomplished violist and an ardent cook — pursuits that were captured in a slideshow that followed the invocation. The photos spanned his life from early childhood to his deployment to Afghanistan.
He was the fourth Vermont serviceman from the greater St. Johnsbury area to die in action overseas during the last year-and-a-half. Others were Army 2nd Lt. Joseph Fortin of St. Johnsbury, killed in Iraq in August 2009; and Army Spc. Ryan Grady, of West Burke, and Army Sgt. Tristan Southworth, of Walden, who died in Afghanistan last summer.Back in Danville, a banner on the second-floor balcony that houses the Caledonia Central Supervisory Union read: “Our hero, you will never be forgotten. Rest in Peace.” A sign posted in front of the Town Hall read, “Thank you for your service, Corporal Muller.”
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When the hearse bearing Muller’s casket passed through Danville, scores of townspeople gathered to pay their respects.
“Everybody gathered in town to watch,” said Barbara Machell, a real estate agent. “It was very moving. They’re a great family. All the kids are really respectful.”
John Dauteuil, who owns Diamond Hill Store in the center of town, recalled having bought bread from Ian and one of his brothers at Danville’s summer farmer’s market.
“It broke my heart when I saw that hearse go by,” he said, adding: “I’m an old Vietnam vet.”
In North Danville, Richard Vance was flying two flags in Muller’s honor. He had attended the wake Friday evening.
“It’s a bad situation when you lose boys like that,” he said.
One flag that didn’t fly Saturday was the one draped over Muller’s casket. At the graveside ceremony at the Danville Green Cemetery, it was meticulously folded by two Marines in dress blue uniforms and presented to his family.
The inscription chosen by the family for the cover of the funeral program, John 15:13, was apt:
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
