Paratrooper's funeral draws hundreds in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine -- A US Army paratrooper killed by a suicide bomber while handing out candy to Iraqi children was remembered yesterday as a good man who stood up for his beliefs and died while extending his hand in friendship.

More than 400 people filled the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to honor Sergeant Jason Swiger, who was killed March 25 in Baqubah, Iraq. Military officials told family members that he was killed after he and several other soldiers left the protection of their Humvee to hand out candy to children after their convoy stopped.

Swiger, 24, was the second soldier who grew up in South Portland to be killed in Iraq in a two-week span. Marine Lance Corporal Angel Rosa, 21, was killed by a roadside bomb on March 13. Both men graduated from South Portland High School.

At yesterday's service, Swiger's casket was escorted along the center aisle of the cavernous church by fellow soldiers from the 82d Airborne Division, followed by a large contingent of family and friends.

US Senator Susan Collins, US Representative Michael Michaud, Governor John Baldacci, and Major General Bill Libby, adjutant general of Maine's National Guard, sat near the front of the church.

Many in the church held small American flags, while others wore yellow ribbons on their lapels.

A day after news of Swiger's death swept through his hometown, his mother led an effort that left South Portland awash in hundreds of yellow ribbons honoring military personnel serving in the Middle East.

The ribbon campaign was in contrast to 2003, when city officials rejected Valorie Swiger's attempts to place yellow ribbons on utility poles after the issue became politicized. The debate centered on what the ribbons represented: support for the war and President Bush's policies or support for US troops.

This time, the City Council voted to allow residents to hang yellow ribbons on city-owned property for 31 days to honor Swiger and Rosa.