[kvitacencia]

Proof that our dogs really ARE emotionally tied to us.





Desmoines Register -Family members followed Tumilson’s ribbon-winning Labrador retriever, Hawkeye, into the service. Hawkeye later accompanied his new owner, Nichols, Tumilson’s close friend, to the stage, where the Lab dutifully dropped to the floor to listen.


I don’t know how you go from Kasey singing the “Promise Ring Song” to this, but I just did. I mean I am absolutely choked up to shit over here. Like if I let my emotions go right now I’d be crying for days, but I can’t let our Interns see me weep so I’m fighting back the tears. Seriously has the bond between man and dog ever been more on display than at this Navy Seal’s funeral? His dog knows exactly what is going on. He lost his best friend and vice versa. Again you got to own a dog to really appreciate this picture and this story, but it just proves once again that dogs are the best. I mean if this was a cat it would probably been robbing people’s houses because it knew they were at a funeral. Not this dog. He’ll sit there forever if you let him just to keep his master company because that’s what dogs do. Loyalty to the bitter end and beyond.

. Barstool Sports: Boston

Mourners recall SEAL's big dreams, big heart | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com



Rockford, Ia. - Jon Thomas Tumilson wrote a class paper when he was 15 about how he wanted to spend the next 20 years as a Navy SEAL, an elite member of the U.S. armed forces.

On Friday, an estimated 1,500 mourners paid their last respects to Petty Officer Tumilson, a Navy SEAL whose helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan on Aug. 6, about 20 years after Tumilson wrote that paper. He was 35 when he died in one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. forces in the decade-old U.S. deployment to Afghanistan.

"J.T. was going to be a Navy SEAL come hell or high water," friend Scott Nichols said of Tumilson, who was born in Osage on July 1, 1976, the nation's bicentennial year, and grew up in Rockford.

Outside the service at the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock gym, two cranes hoisted a huge U.S. flag in Tumilson's honor.

"If J.T. had known he was going to be shot down when going to the aid of others, he would have went anyway," said Boe Nankivel, another friend.

Tumilson was the baby of the family, the son of George and Kathleen Tumilson of Rockford.

His older sisters, Joy McMeekan of Taylor Ridge, Ill., and Kristie Pohlman of Cedar Rapids, sent many in the audience scrambling for tissues when they explained how crushed they were when they learned that the Taliban had shot down a helicopter with SEALs aboard.

McMeekan said she immediately thought her baby brother was dead. She could feel it. And when she went to bed, she felt like someone was in the room with her.

"Was it you coming to say goodbye?" she asked, as her brother's body lay in a flag-draped coffin in the front of the gym.

Pohlman said her brother had a big heart. "Your dreams were big and seemed impossible to nearly everyone on the outside," Pohlman said of her brother's desire to join one of the world's elite military units. "I always knew you'd somehow do what you wanted."

McMeekan and Pohlman walked back to their seats hand in hand as many onlookers in the stands sobbed. The sisters could be heard crying in the arms of other family members as the sound system played "Homesick," by MercyMe.

The song begins:

"You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times

"And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you

"But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry

"Is how long must I wait to be with you."

One other song had a special place in the service: Tumilson had picked a song for his own funeral, having no idea when that day would come. Early in the service, the sound system played that song, "If I Leave This World Alive," by Flogging Molly.

One of its lines promises a presence after death: "If I ever leave this world alive, I'll come back down and sit beside your feet tonight."



On display: Active life, dedication to SEALs

Rockford's streets were lined with U.S. flags and onlookers, and the crowd inside filled the Warriors' gym floor and bleachers.

In attendance were Gov. Terry Branstad and U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, along with fellow SEALs, military brass and state lawmakers.

In the lobby of the gym, an entire trophy case displayed photos and mementoes. There was a Hawkeye wrestling sweatshirt signed by coaches Dan Gable and Jim Zalesky. (Tumilson had wrestled and played football in high school.) And there were photos of Tumilson competing in triathlons, riding a horse and hanging out at a place called Hawaii Sky Diving.

A photo showed him in a martial arts uniform, and the full range of colored belts were spread out in front of the picture.

His dark features were striking in the photos, something of a cross between the Kennedys and Sylvester Stallone. Sometimes he wore full facial hair, sometimes he was clean shaven. His skin displayed a lot of ink.

His cowboy boots were displayed, along with a Texas Longhorns hat, and a large assortment of ribbons from hunting dog organizations. And his Navy SEAL mementos were there, of course.

A picture on the funeral program showed Tumilson as a blond toddler - in a Navy outfit.

In the gym, a PowerPoint presentation showed Tumilson riding go-carts, scuba-diving, enjoying friends' company, and, as a child, lying face down in the buff. That last one sent roars of laughter through the crowd.



To parents: You raised 'an outstanding man'

Family members followed Tumilson's ribbon-winning Labrador retriever, Hawkeye, into the service. Hawkeye later accompanied his new owner, Nichols, Tumilson's close friend, to the stage, where the Lab dutifully dropped to the floor to listen.

"J.T. was not afraid to die," Nichols said. "He was afraid of losing his parents," who were a source of pride for many reasons, including their marriage of more than four decades.

Friend Ben Ives, Nichols and others teased about some of Tumilson's traits, including his affinity for drinking games and his habit of flying new girlfriends home to meet everyone, only to break up later. He fell in love many times, Ives said.

His nieces and nephews knew him as the playful, joking Uncle Jon-Jon.

He was the kind of guy who ran 20 miles at a time - on vacation, Nankivel said. And he still had energy to get into a fight, especially if someone made a crack about one of his friends or family members.

Hey, have you met a timid SEAL?

But there was no teasing about Tumilson's dedication to his country and to the SEALs, where he served as a sniper and was trained in underwater demolition.

"George and Kathy, you helped raised a young man you should be proud of," said U.S. Navy Lt. Robert Bradshaw. "You raised an outstanding man - a hero."