Life full, fulfilled w/ John J. Cleaver funeral slide show

By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

GALENA, Kan. — John Cleaver always wanted to be a soldier.

Staff Sgt. Cleaver, age 36, of the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, was killed Nov. 19 in the Zabul province of Afghanistan. Cleaver was part of a convoy delivering supplies to a forward operating base when a truck pulled up beside his vehicle and exploded. Another soldier, Sgt. Daniel A. Frazier, also was killed, and several others were injured by the suicide bomber.

The message at his memorial service on Sunday was one of a life both full and fulfilled. Family and friends recalled that from an early age, Cleaver aspired to be like his grandfather, John Harold Poole, who lost his left leg in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.

“It started with our grandfather, who was a World War II veteran,” said family spokesman Travis Schuler, Cleaver’s first cousin and a member of the U.S. Air Force. “Our grandfather set the example to us as children to what American heroes are. We are a very patriotic family.”

Another cousin, Jason Schuler, said he recalled John’s concern as a teenager, that a severely broken arm would hurt his ability to enlist.

“He was all worried that he would not be able to go into the military,” Jason Schuler said. “It bothered him. He didn’t want that to hold him back.”

Jason Schuler also said his cousin was up for a promotion to become an Army medic, because “he was more into saving lives than taking lives.”

He was the son of Ronald and Teresa Cleaver, of Joplin, Mo., and attended Eastmorland Elementary and North Middle School in Joplin, and Galena High School. He later attended Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark., where he learned to fly small aircraft, and Crowder College, where he became certified as an emergency medical technician. He also served as a volunteer firefighter at Carl Junction.