To the Editor:

A week has passed since Sergeant Jason M. Lantieri was laid to rest in Evergreen Cemetery. He was a soldier, a serviceman, and his sacrifice lends the most profound meaning to the term "public service". I wish his family and friends my sincerest hope for solace on the long journey that has begun for all of them.

As a citizen of Killingworth, I feel I must also offer profound apologies to Sgt. Lantieri's family and friends for the absence of our First Selectman at Sgt. Lantieri's funeral. For reasons known only to himself Mr. Klein failed to uphold the proper duties attendant to his office. He obviously fails to understand that he represents all of the citizens of Killingworth; that he, too, is a public servant. His breach of protocol and lack of consideration have brought embarrassment to our town, dishonor to the office he holds and shame upon himself.

As a father himself I would have thought that Mr. Klein could envision any family's worst fear and subsequent grief. I would imagine he could sympathize, if not empathize, with a family's loss of one taken too soon from them. Politics are a sorry substitute for compassion and have no place in the memory of Sgt. Lantieri's service.

Again, my sincere apologies to Sgt. Lantieri's family and friends for the official disrespect displayed and any insult they may have suffered. As a community I hope we can all agree that a permanent monument to Sgt. Lantieri would be more than appropriate; it would be the honorable thing to do, "lest we forget".

Very truly yours,
Raymond Celmer