AUGUSTA -- Only a mother who has lost a child knows the pain Dixie Flagg felt at the sight of her son's casket being carried Saturday morning by six guardsmen at the Augusta State Airport.

The mother of Sgt. Richard K. Parker -- killed in Iraq on June 13 -- had been waiting with family for her son's arrival on a private jet.

She only got word Friday night that her boy would be coming home.

The 26-year-old Parker was a member of Battery A, 1st Battalion, 152nd Field Artillery Regiment from Waterville. He died in Iraq when a vehicle he was traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive device, or IED, during a routine security detail.

Enveloped in pain since she received word of her son's death, Flagg said she was glad to finally have her son's body home.

"I feel relief," said Flagg who is still trying to come to grips with his loss. "It's like now we can put him to rest."

Parker was living with his mother in Avon when he left for his second tour. He was serving with the Security Force II element inn Iraq.

She said her son joined the National Guard nine years ago while still in high school. He graduated in 1999 from Mt. Abram High School in Salem Township.

Parker left behind a 5-month old son that he has never seen and was engaged to be married to Ashley Smith.

His death has been difficult for the family to deal with, she said.

"We have our moments," she said. "We have some bad moments, then we get through them. Then we remember. It comes and goes."

In a telephone interview, Flagg said she was pleased with how the Army cared for her son's body at the airport. And wanted to thank everyone who helped to make this easier.

"I think the Army did a great job saluting him at the (Augusta) Armory and taking him up to the funeral home where he is," she said. "They did the slow salute, and the Patriot Guards were great. We want to thank them all."

The family requested the Maine Patriot Guard Riders escort Parker to the Adams Funeral Home in Farmington from the airport.

Donald Duplessis, retired staff sergeant with the U.S. Army and ride captain for Kennebec County's Patriot Guards, said he was proud to escort a fellow soldier who had fallen.

He said the Patriot Guard makes certain that the men and women who died for our country are honored and remembered.

Duplessis, who lives in Augusta, waited for two Maine State Police cruisers to lead the black hearse into the armory parking lot where about 20 Patriot Guard riders on motorcycles lined up for the procession.

"We've been to too many of these missions," Duplessis said. "It wears on you. It's hard. But when you think of what they've been through, it's nothing compared to that."

John Mullett of Rockland, another Patriot Guards rider who served in the Air Force, said escorting dead soldiers is an emotional roller-coaster.

He watched as the black hearse drove slowly by to get into position. He could see Parker's flag-draped coffin through the back window.

"(This war) has turned out to be like Vietnam," Mullett said. "It's an unpopular war and too many soldiers are dying."

Parker was the 34th Maine military member to be killed in the war on terror.

Mechele Cooper -- 623-3811, Ext. 408

mcooper@centralmaine.com