April 12, 2004
Ohio civilian killed in Iraq mourned at emotion-charged services
By Thomas J. Sheeran
Associated Press
RITTMAN, Ohio — An Army veteran killed by Iraqi insurgents was remembered as a freedom fighter at his weekend funeral services.
About 800 people nearly filled St. John Roman Catholic Cathedral in Cleveland for a funeral service on Saturday. Many of the mourners then traveled 35 miles for a somber burial at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery.
Strangers paused respectfully as the casket bearing the body of Jerko “Jerry” Zovko, 32, was carried from the cathedral and, at the wind-swept cemetery, people who were decorating the graves of loved ones with Easter flowers did the same.
“Cleveland cares, and the world cares,” was the message that Marta Sylvester of Cleveland said she wanted to send as she stood outside the cathedral with a U.S. flag and a small placard that read, “America — united we stand.”
Zovko’s mother, Danica “Donna” Zovko, covered her eyes as the casket was lowered into the grave and his father, Jozo, wiped away tears. Their surviving son, Tom, clutched and consoled his parents.
Zovko was one of four American security workers killed March 31 when they were hit by rocket-propelled grenades in a rebel ambush in Fallujah. Jubilant mobs dragged the burned bodies through the streets and hung two from a bridge, but Zovko’s family did not know if he was one of them.
At the cemetery set amid rolling farmland, a detail from Fort Knox, Ky., fired a seven-gun salute, two Army buglers played “Taps” and a Cleveland police bagpiper played “Amazing Grace.”
The Rev. Edward Estok, the cathedral administrator and one of two priests who preached at the service, called Zovko a freedom fighter.
“We are called to live in freedom,” Estok said. “We salute his sacrifice.”
The services were conducted largely in Croatian, reflecting the Zovko family heritage. A fluent speaker of English, Croatian, Spanish, Russian and Arabic, Zovko worked for Blackwater USA, a private security consultant based in Moyock, N.C.
A memorial Mass was planned Monday at the cathedral.
Born in Cleveland and raised in suburban Euclid, Zovko attended St. Christine School and Euclid High School, where he played soccer. He was a member of St. Paul Croatian Church in Cleveland and helped out at the family-run auto body shop.
He spent a year at Ohio State University. Then, his family said, a visit to his grandparents in their native war-torn Croatia inspired him to enlist in the Army at age 19.
Zovko was discharged as a sergeant in 2001 after eight years of Army service.
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------------------------------------------------------------ Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results.
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