Sgt. David Ververka
	Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette photos
	Ronald Veverka holds photos of his son, Sgt. David Veverka. The one on the left was taken around 2000 and the one on the right was the last photo he sent home at Christmas time showing him with a baby seal.
	Sgt. Veverka's father, Ronald, and brother, Doug, reminisce about the fallen soldier yesterday.
	Paul Ilive, owner of Carini's Restaurant in Jamestown, Mercer County, talks of David Veverka who once worked at his restaurant.

JAMESTOWN, Pa. -- The single yellow bow hugging a big tree in front of a small house explained the sacrifice. The nine cars outside, parked in sequence, explained the loss.

The soldier who grew up there, Sgt. David Veverka, 25, died Saturday in Iraq when his military vehicle was rocked by an explosion, said his father, Ronald. An Army officer appeared at the small house's front door hours later -- roughly 2:30 Sunday morning, Ronald Veverka said -- releasing a flood of grief into a town whose touchstone values Sgt. Veverka single-handedly embodied.

Yesterday evening, tearful friends and relatives entered and exited the house belonging to Sgt. Veverka's mother and stepfather, Carol and Jeff Polley. They left knowing that he'd be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, a certainty that caused pride when all other questions caused anguish.

Sgt. Veverka, during his years at Jamestown High School, participated in annual "Voice of Democracy" contests, producing speeches about both his views on freedom and his long-standing desire to defend it. Upon his high school graduation in 1999, at least 12 of the 49 students in his graduating class jumped into some form of military involvement. Sgt. Veverka, following the path of his father, who'd served in Vietnam for roughly one year, enlisted in the Army and became a member of its honor guard, often attending services in Washington, D.C., for fallen soldiers.

"He sacrificed, and we're just so proud of him," Ronald Veverka said. "I never discouraged him. I never discouraged him."

Jamestown, until now, only knew the pride of military involvement, not the mourning. Not since Vietnam had a soldier from the area died. As a result, the Mercer County town collectively paused to remember the soldier who'd reappeared at his old high school three years ago, in full uniform and glowing.

As a teenager, he kept a close group of friends, most of them trademarked by their straight edges. Sgt. Veverka and his friends used to climb on raft-size blocks of Styrofoam and float down the Shenango River. "He was right on the money with morals," said high school friend Josh Crawford, who will go to Iraq next month.

"Strength and honor," Sgt. Veverka often said, invoking his favorite quote from Russell Crowe's "Gladiator."

Sgt. Veverka played two years of varsity basketball, first as a small forward as a junior, later as a 5-foot-11 center during his senior season on a team that finished 0-21.

"Completely undersized, everybody bigger than him every night," recalled Jamestown basketball coach Scott Taylor. "But he battled. I can still visualize David on the court, running out of that lane after a lay-in, pounding his chest, showing his heart."

A flag at Jamestown High School fell to half-staff yesterday. In the morning, principal Brian Keyser told his students about Sgt. Veverka. By the end of the day, he'd found a 1999 yearbook, opening it to the three pages devoted to that year's senior class.

"He went to the Air Force," English teacher Doug Hunter said, pointing to the picture of one student.

"I think he was in the [Army] National Guard," Mr. Taylor said, motioning at another student.

The building's main office is lined with information about the opportunities for students. One red-colored pamphlet -- "16 Reasons It Pays To Serve America" -- underscored the chief benefit often emphasized to Jamestown students.

Reason No. 5: Earn money to help pay for college.

After his three-year stint with the Army, Sgt. Veverka enrolled at the University of Maine in Bangor, where he pursued a degree in wildlife ecology, a passion of his borne from the time he spent as a youth near Pymatuning Lake. Meanwhile, he joined the Maine Army National Guard, ensuring that, with the help of previous scholarships, he would not need to pay for college.

In January, though, Sgt. Veverka's National Guard unit was activated, Ronald Veverka said. Sgt. Veverka, eight credits shy of graduation, spent roughly 60 days preparing in Fort Dix, N.J., and then arrived in Iraq in March.

"This has always been a very pro-military and patriotic area," Jamestown VFW post commander Jim Young said. "And let's face it, this is a depressed area up here. We've lost all of our industry. There's no money for the kids to go to school. So then a kid joins [the military], it's a way to get a college education.

"But then sometimes somebody pays the ultimate price. And whether it's good or bad, why we're over there -- it doesn't make any difference."