Western New York prepares to honor native son

On Tuesday, we learned about the tragic death of Spc. Jason Johnston in Afghanistan. Sunday, the 24-year-old Albion, New York, native will return to his hometown in a flag-draped casket, as a region pauses to honor a fallen hero.

WKBW-TV in Buffalo has a full list of planned events that will honor the infantryman, who was killed by a roadside bomb on the day after Christmas. The soldier will be saluted first at Rochester International Airport at 10 a.m. Sunday morning. Then, a military escort will accompany his flag-draped casket to Albion, where citizens are being encouraged to line the streets to show appreciation for Johnston's sacrifice and give comfort to his grieving family. Despite brutal weather conditions, predicted to be about 13 degrees with blowing snow, I have no doubt the community will show up in impressive numbers to wave flags in support of their hero.

Spc. Jason Johnston will be buried on Tuesday. The Daily News in Batavia, New York, has a beautifully-written column by Scott DeSmit today about Johnston and the legacy of other fallen troops laid to rest at Mount Albion Cemetery. One of most emotional passages from DeSmit's piece:

Two generations have passed since Richard E. Engle was buried here in the winter of 1968, a most tempestuous year that saw our country torn apart by war, politics and domestic unrest.

Forty-one years later, men and women will again gather to watch a soldier buried and their eyes will be drawn to those names etched in granite.

Maybe they will see the faces of their friends, their sons and fathers once again and be reminded of their courage and honor and sacrifice and the horrors of war.

It is quiet here at Mount Albion Cemetery on a cold, gray afternoon.

The night comes and stills the flags.

They now hang silently at half-staff.

A soldier has died.

Image courtesy: Department of Defense