Magic Valley Lays Hero To Rest

Saturday afternoon, family, friends and a community remembered Army Staff Sergeant Daniel Brown, a Jerome soldier killed by enemy explosives in Afghanistan two weeks ago.  Over a thousand  people gathered with them for his funeral service at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls.  Brown was killed 10 months into deployment.Brown joined the U.S. Army in 2003 because of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. He served in Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan.  He leaves behind countless friends and family, people who say he always smiled and let the people he cared about know it. Brown’s family received his honors, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.  A military hero to his country, Brown will also be known as a personal hero to his family, including his wife Jordan and the three-month-old twin daughters Brown was never able to meet.  Following the funeral service, Brown was buried with full military honors at Sunset Memorial Park in Twin Falls.  The Westboro Baptist Church, the church with a history of protesting at fallen soldier’s funerals, posted a notice on their website last week that they would be protesting at Sgt. Brown’s funeral.  That notice was distributed through the social media Facebook on Saturday just before the funeral. In the end no one showed up representing the group.  However, mere mention of the possibility did upset a lot of people.  This morning on Top Story at 8 o’clock Jill Skeem and I will be talking to Rebecca Phelps-Davis, the daughter of Fred Phelps, founder of that organization, to find out why they do what they do.  Please tune in at 8 this morning on Top Story.