BLAND, Va. — Bland County Administrator Jonathan Sweet swung the historic 1873 bell from the courthouse belfry Friday morning. The bell tolled three times. Sweet explained that he tolled the bell in place of a three volley rifle salute to honor the memory of a fallen hero who gave his life in defense of freedom in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Tech. Sgt. Phillip A. Myers of the U.S. Air Force died April 5, near Helmand Province, Afghanistan from an improvised explosive device. Myers, 30, was serving with an explosives ordinance disposal flight and was assigned to the 48th Civil Engineering Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom. Myers had served tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart Medal.

A crowd of almost 200 people gathered on the lawn on the east side of the historic courthouse to pay their respects to the Myers family. Myers was born and raised in Hopewell, Va., near Richmond, but his family’s roots are in Bland County. His grandparents, William and Dessie Myers, his uncle and aunt, Keith and Nikki Phillips, and several of his cousins, attended the memorial service held in his honor.

“Phillip loved Bland County,” his Aunt Nikki Myers said, speaking on behalf of the family. “It was the simplicity of it.” She added that her nephew even talked of coming back to Bland County to live when he retired. Although Nikki Myers said that the family knew that her nephew’s job often put him in dangerous situations, he was focused on doing his job. “He said: “I’d do it all over again if they called me to do it.”

Nikki Myers reflected the emotion of a grateful community as she shared some insights into the life of her nephew. She said that the Bland County members of the family stayed in touch with Tech. Sgt. Myers through his wife, Amy, and his father. She said that while he became an “icon” to the nation when he was killed in action on April 5, “He has always been a hero to our family.”

Sheriff Jerry Thompson commanded a combined force made up of deputies from the Bland County Sheriff’s Office and troopers of the Virginia State Police stood in formation on one side of the speakers dais and members of Post 7969 Veterans of Foreign Wars of Bland County and American Legion Post 20 , also of Bland County remained in formation on the other side of the podium.

Sweet introduced Pastor Paul Looney of the Bastian Union Church who delivered a combination prayer/statement of community support to comfort the family. “This community is deeply burdened by your loss,” he said. “When part of us suffer, we all suffer.” During his presentation, Looney expressed his pride in living “in the land of the free because of the brave,” and said that while war is a bad thing, “what took place on 9-11 was a bad thing too.

“God bless you, Myers family,” he said. “God bless the military. God bless the USA.”

Former Major John Brownlee, U.S. Army, who also served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, said that Myers was an exceptional soldier. “Phillip Myers is an American hero who has made the nation and the world a better place,” Brownlee said.

As an unseen bugler played “Taps,” a detail including Curtis Sexton, commander VFW Post 7969, Rick Owens of Post 7969 and Stephen Kelley of American Legion Post 20 lowered the American flag on the flagpole in front of the courthouse. Owens and Kelley folded it, and gave the flag to Sexton.

“When he heard the call, he answered the call,” Sexton said before presenting the flag to Myers’ grandmother. “We have lost a good soldier and we honor him today.” The unseen bugler played “Reveille” as the three-man detail raised a new American flag to half-staff.

All three flags there — American, Virginia and Bland County — remained at half-staff.

The crowd observed a moment of silence as the last of the three bell tolls echoed through the southwestern Virginia mountains. A slight breeze picked up, causing the three flags to snap crisply in the warm air of a cloudless morning in spring.

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com