‘A young life is gone.’ Mourners salute Waycross soldier killed in Jordan

Many came wearing purple — shirts, ties, suits, sweaters, fingernails even — Sanders’ favorite color.

Inside, her flag-draped casket was the focal point, enshrined in a small, makeshift room ringed by royal-blue carpet and curtains. An American flag hung in the background shrouded by white flowers.

Sanders, 24, was among three Georgia soldiers killed in a Jan. 28 drone attack on their military outpost in Jordan. Her funeral is Saturday.

Credit: Jason Getz

Credit: Jason Getz

Her father, Shawn Sanders, was amazed at the outpouring, the reverential scene.

“This is all unsolicited. This is all people volunteering their talents and services,” he said moments after speaking privately with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp.

The governor, asked what he said to Sanders’ parents, later told reporters, “That we appreciated her service and her giving the ultimate sacrifice and let them know that this is a grateful state.”

Earlier, on Friday morning, while a fire department ladder truck used to hang the murals rumbled away, Sheinita Bennett glanced up at Sanders’ wide grin beaming at her from the side of the building. She choked back sobs.

Bennett, a city commissioner, graduated high school with Sanders’ father.

“These are tears of joy,” she said, thinking of Sanders’ accomplishments and the locals she influenced. “This baby has sacrificed her life for us. Just look at her smile. Look at her smile. That speaks for itself.”

In the minutes before Sanders’ casket arrived, Matthew Rawls, who works at a local nursing home, stopped by and stood outside the auditorium. He stared at the red-white-and-blue banner over the doorway and at the towering pictures of Sanders.

“It’s hard to believe that a young life is gone,” Rawls said. “But you feel proud, too.”

Rawls said two people he works with recently joined the military and will soon be bound for boot camp. Looking up at the patriotic display, he said, “You think about all the ones that are gone that you didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to.”

Next door to the auditorium, at a law firm, purple bows in Sanders’ honor were tied to trees. An attorney there, John R. Thigpen Sr., an Army veteran, said that while Sanders’ death had dealt a mighty blow to this town of 14,000, it had also prompted a public embrace of Sanders’ family.

“If you don’t pay tribute to this fallen soldier,” Thigpen said, “you don’t deserve to have your feet on American soil.”

Credit: Jason Getz

Credit: Jason Getz

Back at the auditorium, a county election worker named Donna Boggs paid her respects. She said her brother had died while serving in the military.

“It brings back memories,” she said. “If you don’t feel anything, you’re not human.”

Boggs faced the banners of Sanders and sighed.

“Wow,” she said of the building’s transformation, its full military dress. “That’s the first time the city auditorium has been done like that. And that’s a wonderful thing to honor her.”

Boggs recalled working with Sanders at the voting polls. Sanders rode her bicycle across town to get there.

“She was sort of quiet,” Boggs said. “But when she said something, she’d smile.”

Then, of the loss, she added, “You know, everything that happens, there’s always a blessing behind it.”

A funeral for reservist William Jerome Rivers, 46, who also was killed in the drone attack in Jordan, was held Tuesday in Carrollton.

A funeral for Army Reservist Sgt. Breonna Moffett, 23, the other reservist killed, will be held Saturday in Savannah. Moffett’s family has requested that media not be present.

Locals in Savannah paid their respects on Thursday along a motorcade route as Moffett’s remains traveled from the airport to a funeral home.