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EAGLE’S
TOP 11 SPORTS, 1D

THE DAY ALEX

STATE’S BUDGET WOES A PRIORITY

WAS KILLED
McClatchy-Tribune
“Service to the citizens who elected me is my
top priority in these difficult times,” Gov.
Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

Cabinet’s
not for
her, says
Sebelius
BY JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

TOPEKA — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius removed

herself Saturday from consideration for a spot in
Courtesy of Arron Patton President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet, saying
Alex Funcheon of Bel Aire pulls guard duty in the tower of an Iraqi police station in east Baghdad in January 2007. Alex’s tour of duty one reason is Kansas’ budget problems.
in Iraq began in October 2006 as a member of the 1st Platoon in the 61st Cavalry Regiment. “I believe it is important to continue my ser-
vice as governor,” Sebelius said in a brief state-
ment.
BY ROY WENZL ■ THE WICHITA EAGLE Sebelius said she had asked to have her name
ABOUT THIS

T
removed from consideration, but spokeswoman
he facts about the life and age 21, was killed by a roadside bomb in Nicole Corcoran declined to provide more
death of Alex Funcheon are
these:
Baghdad.
At the funeral in Wichita, family
SERIES details. Sebelius had been mentioned most often
as a potential secretary of energy, education or
Events described in labor.
As a Wichita teen he was a and friends were startled to discover, these stories were She also was one of four finalists for the No. 2
screw-up and a jerk. from notes sent by soldiers, that drawn from interviews spot on the Democratic ticket this summer,
conducted over an 18- before Obama selected Delaware Sen. Joe Biden
He got drunk, got high, Alex had become a good soldier, as his vice presidential running mate.
month period with the
got arrested resourceful, courageous — and beloved. story subjects or from “The possibility of joining President-elect
for possession, dropped Six weeks after Alex died, the president documents provided by
out, bedded girls and of the United States came to Wichita to the story subjects, or Please see SEBELIUS, Page 5A
were witnessed by the
bragged about it, cursed at dedicate a new youth center and to crack reporter.
his parents, bullied his lit- jokes at a political fundraiser. The In most cases where PREVENTING CHILD ABUSE
tle sister to tears, and moment he heard Bush was coming, Bob dialogue is used, the
majority of the subjects
ticked off friends so much
that a roommate, one of
his closest friends, told
Alex one day to find some
said, “I knew I wanted to do something
big. For Alex.”
The Funcheons asked for a meeting.
On Air Force One in Wichita, on June
interviewed agree on
the words that were
spoken. The exception
is Sen. Pat Roberts’
There’s help
other place to live.
He told his Christian parents that he
doubted the existence of God.
15 last year, they confronted an exhaust-
ed-looking President Bush with a mes-
sage.
conversation with
President George W.
Bush on Air Force
One. That section was
for stressed
His father, Bob Funcheon, in despair,
urged his son to join the U.S. Army. Alex
enlisted.
A lot of sons and daughters died, they
told the president.
They asked whether their son died for
reconstructed based
on the recollections of
Roberts, a former
journalist.
parents who
On April 29, 2007, Sgt. Alex Funcheon, nothing.
can’t cope
BY SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS AND TIM POTTER
The Wichita Eagle

It’s easy to think the nine child homicides in

Courtesy photo
Sgt. Jay Martin learns in February 2007
that he is being promoted to the rank of
Staff Sgt. Platoon leader Lt. Jon Bland is
watching from behind the formation.
APRIL 29, 2007
Forward Operating Base, Baghdad, Iraq
Truck convoy, 1st Scout Platoon of Alpha Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry regiment
In east Baghdad, Sgt. Gerardo Medrano and
the 20 other guys from Alpha Troop’s 1st
Platoon could feel the
heat from the morning
sun as they strapped PART ONE OF SEVEN
on body armor. They
were laughing, joking, and a good deal scared.
They were about to drive down a road.
In the pouches attached to the front of their
armored vests, they slipped in one ammunition
magazine after another, 30 bullets to a maga-
zine, seven or more magazines stuck into the
SUNDAY
Wichita this year were committed by monsters,
says child abuse specialist Kerri Meyer.
“We all are susceptible to losing our temper
with kids,” said Meyer,
32, a mother of two
toddlers, and a pedia-
INSIDE
Courtesy photo Courtesy of Arron Patton
trician at the University A list of resources and
Sgt. Gerardo Medrano stands next to Pvt. Brian Botello, the driver of Alex of Kansas School of contact information, 5A
Botello and Funcheon’s Humvee on FOB Funcheon’s Humvee, in Narhwan, Iraq, Medicine-Wichita.
Loyalty in east Baghdad, less than a mile where the 1st Platoon found a Shia militia “The difference
from where the Humvee was later hit. weapons cache in December 2006. between a loving par- KANSAS.COM
ent and a child abuser
— it literally can be Read coverage of the
FOLLOW LINKS AT two deep breaths.” most recent child
abuse death attached
Early childhood
KANSAS.COM TO: experts say the recent to this story at
Kansas.com.
chest pouches of each soldier. They cross- „ Read e-mails Alex Funcheon spate of child deaths in
checked each other’s pouches to make sure exchanged with his parents during his Wichita — nine chil-
everybody had what they needed: bullets, overseas tour. dren under age 4 —
night vision devices, water, medical kits. „ Watch a video interview with the sur- underscores a need to mobilize, focus their
In the turret of the convoy’s lead Humvee, viving Funcheons. efforts and reach out to parents and caregivers.
Alex Funcheon, a kid from Wichita and the „ Read journal entries written by Gloria “Obviously we’re in a crisis here, and we need
lead gunner of this scout platoon, was checking Funcheon, Alex Funcheon’s sister. to address some things quickly,” said Vicky
the action on the 50-caliber machine gun and „ Read and sign Alex Funcheon’s Roper, director of Prevent Child Abuse Kansas at
big thermal sights that were mounted in the memorial guest book. the Kansas Children’s Service League.
gun turret. „ Learn the story behind the series “We need to get the word out across the com-
with Roy Wenzl. munity about services that are already in place.
Please see ALEX, Page 10A
Please see ABUSE, Page 5A

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