The Gamut

Outside, the people of Wellsburg began lining Route 2, already festooned with yellow ribbons, to wait for the funeral procession as it rolled back through town to Kadesh cemetery. John Paugh, 21, who had served with Smith as a volunteer firefighter before the invasion of Iraq, sat in a rescue squad van and expressed his disgust for Bush. "I just don't believe anymore in what he's doing over there," Paugh said.

The war that Bush and many of his countrymen thought had come to an easy end a year ago has not. That point was driven home with the deepest pain in the hometowns of 136 soldiers in April alone. Wellsburg, where residents have turned sharply against Bush over his handling of the war, is one such town.