Families Bury Two Soldiers Killed in Action

The mailman in this tiny northern Pennsylvania hamlet took an hour off Thursday and the manager of the auto parts store locked up at 11 a.m. as hundreds of townspeople paused in their daily toil to say goodby to a fallen son.

Staff Sgt. Larry R. Barnard, 29, father of three and husband to his high school sweetheart, Tammy, was killed Dec. 21, the second day of the invasion of Panama. But Panama seemed light years away Thursday from the rolling dairy land along the Susquehanna River.

“If Larry ever brought anyone home, it was always someone who was hurting,” said the Rev. Keith Benjamin at Barnard’s funeral. “Whether he was volunteering to mow lawns for older neighbors or offering some other help, he was the kind of guy who could not pass a person on the street if he saw that they were suffering.”

At Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River near the nation’s capital, Spec. Alejandro I. Manriquelozano, 30, of Lauderhill, Fla., was also buried Thursday. A young man from a Peruvian peasant family, “he was the kind of guy who, if you had no shirt, he would give you his,” said his cousin, Jose Canalas of Long Island, N.Y., a hotel manager.

The two men were among nearly a dozen American soldiers killed in the U.S. invasion of Panama who were buried this week in ceremonies across the United States. A total of 27 Americans--25 servicemen and two civilians--were reported killed in the fighting, but not all have been officially identified.

Manriquelozano was the first Panama casualty to be buried at Arlington. His father, mother and other family members looked on sadly under a bright winter sky. The family was given two American flags and two Purple Hearts by Army officials.

Without the means to fly to the United States for the funeral, the family was helped by Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.), who arranged free airline tickets and hotel rooms.

Barnard never dreamed of anything but the Army--”100% Army,” as one friend described him a few days after his death. He volunteered for service after he finished high school and eventually became a Ranger, a high-profile job that led to his participation in the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983.

Pennsylvania Gov. Robert P. Casey had visited the Barnard family and President Bush sent Maj. Gen. Paul Cerjan to express his country’s condolences. But the real message was the 400 people--seemingly the entire town--who gathered in the new-fallen snow at the United Methodist Church here for the funeral.

“Thank you all so much for coming,” were the only words Barnard’s older brother, Ray, could manage. His father, Ray Sr., simply broke into tears, clutching the tri-folded U.S. flag presented to him by the military.

“His parents were always apprehensive (of his military work), but they were very aware and very proud of the fact that (the Army) was of his choosing,” said Trudy Zurn, a family friend.

“The thing helping the (Barnard) family at this point has simply been their faith in God,” she said. “The family has chosen not to comment on the activities in Panama.”

At the age of 25, Manriquelozano had left Peru and emigrated to Florida. He had hoped to become a U.S. citizen. He enlisted in the Army two years ago. According to family members, he hoped to earn a college degree in civil engineering with the help of the military and remain in the Army as a career officer.

On Dec. 16, four days before the invasion of Panama, the 30-year-old soldier called his father in Peru and told him that the United States was planning to invade Panama. “He couldn’t talk too much,” said Canalas, the cousin. “And he didn’t want his mother to know. He thought she would worry.”

Manriquelozano’s unit parachuted into Panama City’s Torrijos Airport and immediately engaged in a fierce firefight. Ripped by machine-gun fire almost as he touched the ground, Manriquelozano was killed instantly, the family said.

The circumstances of Barnard’s death still are unclear.

Stewart reported from Hallstead, Pa., and Soble from Arlington National Cemetery.