1/25 Family, friends honor soldier killed in Iraq

Like tears from heaven, rain poured down as Army Spc. Larry Earl Polley Jr. was laid to rest in Shelby County on Saturday, a week following his death in Iraq.

Members of the honor guard folded the flag covering Polley's casket with trembling hands, and Polley's widow broke into sobs as the symbol of freedom for which her husband fought was handed to her.

As it had been at Polley's funeral, the mourners gathered by his graveside were quiet and still, though emotional.

Sebrena Polley described her husband as a special man who will never be forgotten.

"Words cannot express the way I feel right now," Mrs. Polley said following the service. "Larry Earl Polley Jr., you will always be in my heart."

She said that she'll also have special words to describe to her three children the father that they'll have trouble remembering.

"I will tell them that he was a great father," she said. "You couldn't ask for a better man. I loved him."

Polley was one of three Fort Hood soldiers killed last Saturday when a roadside bomb detonated and overturned the vehicle in which they were traveling.

Words from Polley's funeral program described a man who was equally loved by the rest of his family.

His mother, Louis Marie Harper, wrote, "So, when tomorrow starts without you here and finds my eyes filled with tears and an angel has come and called your name and said your place was ready in Heaven. You will always be right here in my heart."

Larry Polley Sr. wrote, "I want you to know that I love you and I was also proud of you before you went into the Army. I will miss you dearly."

During solemn military services before a crowded church sanctuary, General Jim Myles, commanding general of the Operational Test Command at Fort Hood, described Polley as a man with respect, a man who would readily volunteer for the hardest jobs, even if it meant "paying the ultimate price" for freedom.

Polley was a reflection of the community from which he came, Myles said, and he thanked all of those gathered to mourn his death for supporting Polley in his choice to join the Army and defend his country.

"He was one of our very best, and he rose forward to protect this community and all of us," Myles said. "We can all hope to learn from the things that Larry did in his life — to be respectful, to be willing to pay the price and to say, 'If it's a tough job, send me.' You sent your very best."

The preachers who knew him well also shared their knowledge of what it is like to be called to serve their country.

The Rev. Prince Sanders, a seven-year veteran, said he knew that for Polley, defending his country was an honor greater than can be described.

"Defending the freedoms that keep this country free is a greater feeling than you can imagine," Sanders said. "I know that he was doing what he loved, to keep us free. I salute him forever."

The Rev. Freddie Wilson said that he had known Polley and his family for 11 years, and he knew that Polley had been not only a soldier for the Army, but also a soldier for the Lord.

"Today, Polley is not with us because he has gone on to be with the great commander in chief," he said.

Wilson said he knew first-hand about the decisions Polley had been called to make, and he is sure that Polley made the right ones.

"In 1971, I had to make a decision on whether or not to remain in the military," he said. "Although I chose not to, we can't go back and think of how our lives would have been, had we lived them differently. I can't know how my life would have been if I had gone to Vietnam instead of Germany, or if I had stayed in the military after serving my country. And I am sure today that there are some people asking, if Larry had not gone into the military, would his life have been different. We cannot know the answers to those questions. Whatever we have done — we must simply thank God for it."

Polley's classmates and teachers crowded the choir loft of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church. Stepping forward to speak for the graduating class of 2001 was Polley's classmate, Denetra Slaughter.

"Our God has called him to his rightful place beside the heroes of the past," she said.