American Flag from PSHS Presented to Mother of Pfc. Andrew Meari

Meari, who attended Plainfield South, was killed in November while fighting in Afghanistan.

The American flag that last flew over Plainfield South High School on Veterans Day was given to the family of Pfc. Andrew N. Meari, a former Plainfield South student killed Nov. 1 in Afghanistan. Plainfield South Principal David Travis and members of the Plainfield School District 202 board presented Meari’s family with the carefully folded and encased flag at Monday’s board meeting while members of the Warriors’ Watch Riders formed a solemn flag line. Dave Skinner, a volunteer with the Watch Riders, presented the family with a gold coin and a set of symbolic beads that honor military families. “We try to honor all of our veterans, past, present and future, to show we all appreciate their service,” Skinner said. “We show support and we …

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Fallen Plainfield Soldier's Final Return Home Captured in Photos, Video

Andrew Meari was killed in a suicide bomb attack; the story of his final return home was captured in photos that have been transformed into a video.

When Pfc. Andrew Meari was killed in Afghanistan in November, his return to Plainfield for burial was nothing short of a hero's welcome. His coffin was flown into Midway Airport, his visitation held at Dames Funeral Home in Joliet and his funeral and burial at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood. The procession to his final resting place led past his old high school, went through the heart of downtown Plainfield and passed dozens of people who stood along to road to pay their respects. Heidi Kelly, a sergeant with the Plainfield Emergency Management Agency, captured it all in still photographs and she's turned them into a video that's now posted on You Tube. Click here to see her work.

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Plainfield Soldier Gets a Hero's Sendoff at Lincoln National Cemetery

Gov. Pat Quinn, Army general major among those in attendance at Pfc. Andrew Meari's funeral.

Pfc. Andrew "Drew" N. Meari was laid to rest Thursday with all of the pomp and circumstance befitting a military hero, including a eulogy by Gov. Pat Quinn, but also with a bit of levity that evoked tears and laughter. Major Gen. David Quantock, commanding officer at Fort Leonard Wood Army Base in Missouri, told the 100-plus people gathered at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery that it is customary for soldiers to hold their own ceremony for a fallen comrade. In this case, it was held in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where Meari, 21, of Plainfield, and another soldier were killed Nov. 1 by a suicide bomber. "He was the DJ -- he was 'DJ Tyger.' That's what I'll remember," a friend of Meari's wrote in a statement that was read during his unit's …

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Funeral Will Be Thursday for Plainfield Soldier

Andrew Meari, killed in action in Afghanistan Nov. 1, will be buried in Abraham Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Elwood.

Funeral services for Andrew N. Meari, the Plainfield soldier killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan Nov. 1, are scheduled for Thursday. The funeral will begin at 1 p.m. Thursday at Fred C. Dames Funeral Home, 3200 Black Road, Joliet. Meari then will be transported to Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, where a burial with full military honors will be conducted. Visitation will be from noon to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Meari, 21, graduated from Drauden Point Middle School, attended Plainfield South High School and graduated from Port Washington High School in Port Washington, Wis. He joined the Army in October 2008. During the course of his military career, he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, …

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Meari Remembered by Friends as Passionate Guy with a 'Good Heart'

The Plainfield soldier died in Afghanistan Monday after an insurgent, masquerading as a guard trainee, ignited a suicide bomb.

Andrew "Drew" Meari was a fun-loving guy, remembered by friends Wednesday for his rambunctious personality, love of techno music and ability to stay in touch even while thousands of miles away. Almost everyone spoke of having just seen 22-year-old Meari in Plainfield late this summer, when the private first class was home for a two-week leave from his Army stint in Afghanistan, or having just chatted with him via Facebook. That he should be dead, the victim of a suicide bomber, seemed unfathomable, they said. "It's numbing," said Andre Gharibadeh, 20, of Plainfield, who lived down the block from Meari and has known him since he was 7. His mother and Meari's are best friends, and as a result, "they lived at each other's houses," he said. "…

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