OHIO BURIAL Mourners remember veteran killed by Iraqis

The Ohio man was killed March 31 in Fallujah, Iraq.
RITTMAN, Ohio (AP) -- An Army veteran killed by Iraqi insurgents was remembered as a freedom fighter on Saturday and buried with military honors at a national cemetery.
During the graveside service for Jerko "Jerry" Zovko, 32, people decorated surrounding military graves with Easter flowers under a bright blue sky as a brisk wind whipped a U.S. flag flying at half-staff.
His mother, Danica "Donna" Zovko, covered her eyes as the coffin was lowered into the grave. His father, Jozo, wiped away tears. Their surviving son, Tom, clutched and consoled his parents.
Jerry 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.
More than 120 vehicles drove 35 miles to the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery from a funeral service attended by about 800 at St. John Roman Catholic Cathedral in downtown Cleveland.
A detail from Fort Knox, Ky., fired a seven-gun salute, two Army buglers played "Taps" and a Cleveland police bagpiper played "Amazing Grace."
Greeted by bishop
At the cathedral, decorated with lilies for Easter, Bishop Anthony M. Pilla greeted Zovko's parents as the coffin was wheeled down an aisle. Pilla told them after the service that he will pray for them.
"He will remain alive forever," the bishop said.
Mrs. Zovko folded her hands and knelt before the flag-draped coffin, her lips moving in prayer, then smiled and kissed a program with her son's picture as she sat down.
The service was held 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.
Relatives who live in suburban Willoughby said he always wanted to try to save the world.
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 at his parents' Domestic and Foreign Body Shop in Cleveland's Collinwood neighborhood.
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 after eight years of Army service in 2001.