From Town to Town, Soldier Is Honored
Funeral Procession Draws Crowds

By Christy Goodman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 14, 2008

Thousands of people lined the funeral procession route through St. Mary's County on Monday to honor a fallen soldier.

After the procession from Brinsfield-Echols Funeral Home in Leonardtown, Sgt. Ryan P. Baumann, 24, of Great Mills was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The 2003 Great Mills High School graduate died Aug. 1 in Afghanistan of wounds suffered when a makeshift bomb exploded near his vehicle, the Department of Defense said. It was Baumann's second tour in a war zone; his first was in Iraq.

Young and old were standing four deep along routes 5 and 245 through Leonardtown "with flags all the way," said Edward N. Brinsfield Jr., the funeral home's owner. Wherever people could pull over or stand along the route, they did, he said.

Children from a day-care center, State Highway Administration employees and workers from the Patuxent River Naval Air Station held signs and waved flags. They were among those who stood along the more-than-20-mile route to the Charles County line, where St. Mary's County firetrucks had extended their ladders with a flag draped high above the road.

Nearly 100 Patriot Guard Riders -- motorcyclists who attend services of soldiers to help shield family and friends from possible disruption by protesters -- and representatives from St. Mary's, Calvert and Charles law enforcement agencies and the Maryland State Police escorted the procession from Leonardtown to Arlington. A rescue helicopter from the naval air station hovered overhead behind them.

In Waldorf, four dump truck drivers pulled off to the side of a road and stood with their hands over their hearts as the procession, with Baumann's friends and family, drove by, Brinsfield said. As hundreds of cars made their way through Prince George's County and the District, more officers blocked intersections and joined the procession.

Baumann, a motor transport operator, joined the Army in May 2004. He received several honors, including the Meritorious Service Medal, an Army Commendation Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

He was engaged to Lauren Smith, whom he met in Great Mills. They were to be married Jan. 10.