HIGHSPIRE, Pa. — Firefighter friends of a Dauphin County soldier killed in Iraq gave him a sendoff on the 1978 Mack pumper that he loved to ride.
Highspire Fire Department Engine 55-1 carried 25-year-old Army Pfc. James Yohn’s body to Indiantown Gap National Cemetery as part of a funeral July 3 that combined solemn military rites and fire department tradition.
Four months earlier Yohn jumped on the truck with friends and headed to a fire call while on his last leave from Iraq. Yohn got married while home in February, and his wife, Amber, is expecting their first child.
At the Neill Funeral Home in Paxtang, the flag-draped casket was flanked by American and Army flags, Yohn’s fire department and Army uniforms and military honors including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Hundreds filed by, many offering condolences to his parents, Judy Yohn and Bob Fisher. Fisher says, “When I get up in the morning, I cry.”