By Associated Press
Dothan, AL – CW3 Donald Clark was described Monday as a world class soldier and his wife's hero during a funeral service for the Newton man who was killed when his helicopter crashed Nov. 15 in Iraq.
Clark, 37, was buried with full military honors after his body was flown to Sunset Memorial Park cemetery in Dothan by helicopter. A military detachment loaded the casket, draped with the American flag, onto a horsedrawn caisson. The caisson carried the body to the funeral site as the family walked behind, according to a report from the Dothan Eagle.
During the ceremony folded American flags were presented to Clark's 8-year-old son, Bailey, to his wife, Jamie, and to his parents.
"He was absolutely fearless in support of his brothers in combat," said CW3 Mike Eckhart, who delivered the eulogy and told stories of a gregarious, talented, driven soldier who felt truly free in the sky and in the Alaskan wilderness.
His fellow soldiers called him "Genghis Don." Eckhart referred to Clark as a real man and a world class soldier. He said Clark referred to himself as the "self-proclaimed emperor of Newton."
Rev. David Willis read a letter Jamie Clark wrote for the service in which she said, "Don and I were the sweetest love story ever told. He was my hero. The sorrow I feel is immeasurable. Don loved his family, his friends, his comrades and his country."