VIENNA - It was a big deal.
By the time he looked out over the throng of people spilling over the rolling green at Crown Hill Burial Park to say goodbye to Air Force Capt. James E. Cross, his brother, Bill Cross, had come to that realization.
Not that his family ever underestimated the airman's final sacrifice for his country. They just thought that too many years had passed for most people to notice, Bill Cross said.
A small, private memorial service probably would suffice, they thought.
They couldn't have been more mistaken.
From the instant the news broke that the remains of the captain, shot down over Laos on a Vietnam War mission April 24, 1970, had been found and would be returned to the U.S., the family was overwhelmed. From across the nation, telephone calls, e-mails and letters flooded in from those who had served with him, been classmates or simply had known him.
''We were obviously wrong,'' Bill Cross admitted to the large crowd that showed up Friday.
The Crosses were forced to quickly shift gears. They made room for others to share in welcoming a long-lost son back to the country he loved.
''You know what? It is a big deal,'' Bill Cross said. ''It's a big deal for our family to finally have him home.''
It was a big deal to other veterans and it was a big deal for the five joint U.S./Laos teams that searched for him over the past 20 years, he noted.
His voice trembling with emotion, another brother, John Cross, struggled to express the family's gratitude to the mourners. He said he had lain awake at night wondering what he would say to them.
But the eloquence of their presence drowned him out, he knew.
''Nothing I could say could mean as much as all of you being here,'' he said.
A dark green hearse arrived at the cemetery soon after brilliant sunlight had burned off the morning fog. As the somber Air Force honor guard from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base unloaded the flag-draped wooden coffin, a woman's sobs broke the stillness.
In the background, a C-130 cargo carrier from the Youngstown Air Reserve Station hung against the blue sky.
''In 38 years, I think this is the most significant funeral I've been involved with in terms of historical importance,'' funeral director Rick Clark of Roberts-Clark Memorial Home, said.
Lyle ''Al'' Sproul of Round Rock, Texas, traveled from that state to say goodbye. He had served with Cross during his first tour of duty in Vietnam, both piloting AC-47 gunships with the 4th Special Operations Squadron. Sproul began his journey Thursday morning and expected to be home by midnight Friday.
''He was a friend,'' Sproul said of his reason for coming. ''He was just a good friend.''
His comrade said he never thought Cross' remains would be found. That area of Laos was remote jungle where many aircraft had been downed by war's end, he said.
Another friend from the captain's days at Ohio University, Larry Warren of Poland, said he had thought about Cross nearly every day of the 38 years he had been gone.
This spring, Warren and his wife had traveled to Vietnam. As they flew near Laos, Warren realized it was in the vicinity of where Cross' plane had crashed. He recalled thinking that that would be as close as he'd ever get to him again.
''How things change,'' Warren marveled.
Dennis Crouch, a retired Air Force colonel and president of the Forward Air Controllers Association, said the occasion was somber but also joyous for his organization. A FAC brother is home, he noted.
Crouch explained Cross' role as a Forward Air Controller for the Air Force elite Raven unit.
''FACs were the eyes and ears of the ground troops,'' the president said. ''There's no doubt in my mind that Capt. James E. Cross, although he passed from us, saved many lives.''
Confirming that sentiment was Ed Romero of the Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle group on hand for the ceremonies. Romero had criss-crossed the dangerous Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos in 1970 as a member of the Army's 101st Airborne.
''My family has Capt. Cross to thank for my being here,'' the Patriot Guard representative told the crowd.
The military honor guard fired off a salute.
Taps sounded as a contingent of propeller-driven T-6 trainer planes from Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma buzzed over the cemetery. One of the aircraft broke off symbolically in the Missing Man Formation.
After the honor guard folded the flag from the coffin into a triangle, it was presented to Cross' father, Edward, by Craig W. Duehring, assistant secretary of the Air Force. The 84-year-old father had held strong and dignified throughout the ceremony.
''I'm all cried out from 38 years ago,'' the elderly parent said. ''My wife and I took it real hard.''
The pilot was buried in the Cross family plot next to his mother, Mary Louise, who had died 13 years ago.
