Soldier's body brought to Thomson for burial

THOMSON --- Although Sgt. Steve McCoy wasn't from McDuffie or Warren counties, he called the area home. For that reason, his family decided that's where his final resting place should be.

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U.S. Army Honor Guard soldiers from Fort Gordon on Monday carry the casket of Sgt. Steve McCoy, who died last week of injuries suffered in an Easter attack in Iraq. The soldier will be buried in Thomson Thursday. JASON B. SMITH/The McDuffie Mirror/6-16-08

Sgt. McCoy's flag-draped coffin was moved from a chartered jet to a waiting hearse on Monday at the Thomson-McDuffie Regional Airport by a special Army Honor Guard from Fort Gordon. Among those gathered to receive his body were his wife, Tabitha, and the couple's soon-to-be 4-year-old twins, Ryley and Landen.

Sgt. McCoy, 23, a member of the 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, was wounded on March 23, Easter Sunday, when the Bradley armored vehicle in which he was riding was blown up by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He died June 10 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Four of the soldiers with him were killed. Sgt. McCoy suffered burns over 90 percent of his body. The attack brought to 4,000 the number of American troops killed in the war.

A full military funeral service is planned for 5 p.m., Thursday at Beggs Funeral Home in Thomson with burial to follow at Savannah Valley Memorial Gardens.

Many of those gathered at the airport on Monday didn't know Sgt. McCoy, who grew up in Moultrie, but came to show their respect for an American soldier who died for his country.

"It was very important that we came out to support this fallen soldier," said R.G. "Bobby" Byrne, of Marietta, who is a member of a national motorcycle group called the Patriot Guard Riders.

MORRIS NEWS SERVICE
An Army honor guard from Fort Gordon carries Sgt. Steve McCoy's coffin at Thomson-McDuffie Regional Airport. Though from Moultrie, Ga., Sgt. McCoy called the McDuffie County area home.