BOGALUSA - The body of Cpl. Justin Ray Mixon, 22, was returned to Bogalusa Monday to an eerily quiet hero's welcome that began at George Carr Memorial Airfield and continued throughout the community.
All along the route, men, women and children stood silently as they either saluted or placed their hand over their heart as Mixon's hearse passed.
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"I just wanted them to know somebody cared."
There were quite a few who took the time to show they cared, beginning with a color guard at the Army Reserve Training Center on Walker Street and people with flags standing beside Travis' Grocery.
People were all along the route... Walker, Wasington, Derbigney, Austin, Okechobee, Cumberland, Willis, Rio Grande and Sunset streets before heading on to Highway 10 for the ride to Franklinton.
And again, there were hands over hearts and salutes and American flags and more than one wiping away tears as Mixon's body passed.
Mixon was killed in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 1 while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom after his vehicle was impacted by an improvised explosive device. He was a member of the United States Army's 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Calvary Regiment based in Vilseck, Germany.
Funeral services for Mixon were at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Friendship Baptist Church, located just off Highway 16 between Franklinton and Amite.
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