Tonopah Marine laid to rest

Benjamin Grove

Monday, April 14, 2003 | 11:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The 2 1/2-year-old daughter of slain Tonopah Marine Lt. Frederick Pokorney clutched the tightly folded flag from her father's casket today, after his interment service at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Where's daddy?" Taylor asked her mother, Chelle, as the two knelt beside the casket for a final goodbye.

In a full military honors service under a cloudless sky today Pokorney, a Tonopah High School graduate, became first Marine from Operation Iraqi Freedom buried at Arlington, hallowed ground for the nation's war dead.

During a Catholic Mass prior to the graveside ceremony, family friend Larry Mullins remembered the 6-foot-7, 31-year-old as a "gentle giant" with a "real sense of compassion."

"He was silent and strong," Mullins said. "He was confident. He made you feel safe and secure."

Pokorney was focused on the men in his charge, Mullins said, fretting over whether they would get mail and hot showers. Pokorney was remembered as a loving father and husband, an athlete, a fierce competitor and for his love of the Marine Corps.

"All in all it's quite a life to celebrate," Mullins said. "We won't see a flag ... without thinking of the sacrifice he made.

"Well done, Marine," Mullins said, his voice cracking. "Semper Fi."

About 150 mourners gathered to remember Pokorney, including a number of Marines. Among others paying their respects were the man Pokorney considered his adoptive father, former Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev.

The Nevada soldier was killed in combat at Nasiriyah last month. He was buried with full honors reserved for officers.

Six horses drew the caisson carrying flag-draped casket to Section 60, grave No. 7861 of the cemetery. A 25-piece Marine band and full honor guard marched in step behind.

A seven-man rifle team fired a traditional three-round volley and a bugler played Taps.

Marine Brig. Gen. Maston Robeson presented the folded flag to Pokorney's wife.

Pokorney is survived by his wife, Carolyn Rochelle, and 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Taylor, who live in North Carolina outside Camp Lejeune, where Pokorney was stationed.

Pokorney moved to Tonopah from California as a teenager after his mother died. He lived with an aunt, who also died, and Lieseke took him into his home. Lieseke considered Pokorney a son.

Pokorney made a lasting impression in Tonopah, where he had been a standout high school athlete. He joined the Marines shortly after high school and graduated with a military science degree from Oregon State University.

Arlington is the nation's premier military cemetery. Among the Nevadans recently interred at Arlington: Army Cpl. Matthew A. Commons, of Boulder City, who at 21 was the youngest of seven servicemen killed in a battle in eastern Afghanistan on March 4, 2002; and former Sen. Howard Cannon, a World War II pilot and 24-year member of Congress, who died in Las Vegas at age 90.