Editor's note: Washington Producer John Rutherford posts a weekly blog on burials of service members at Arlington National Cemetery. Since there were no public burials this past week, we are posting the burial of a highly decorated Green Beret on May 31, right after Memorial Day. 

Headstone by headstone, row by row, Section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery is slowly filling with the casualties from Iraq.

Umbrell, Colby. Pursel, Michael. Murphy, Christopher. On May 31 it was Conner, Bradly. Number 341.

Sgt. Maj. Bradly Conner, 41, a highly decorated Green Beret on this fourth tour in Iraq, was killed May 9 by a roadside bomb. As an Army band played "America the Beautiful" in the distance, he was buried at Arlington Cemetery.

Conner's widow, Cynthia, and their three children, Aaron, 14, Katie, 12, and Rachel, 6, were among the many tearful mourners.

Photo courtesy USASOC News Service

Bradly Dean Conner grew up in Kellogg, Idaho. He went to college until his money ran out, joined the Army for its college aid, and ended up staying for the next 20 years.

"He loved what he did," Cynthia Conner told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

He also loved Cynthia. They were married nearly 18 years, bucking the 85 percent divorce rate among Green Berets. He called her just a few days before he died.

"He was notorious for not calling me as often as he should, but it was always good when he did," Cynthia told the Post-Intelligencer.

Conner served in Desert Storm in 1990, was in on the invasion of Iraq 13 years later, and returned for his fourth tour in March. Along the way, he earned nearly 50 awards and decorations, including three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.

"He considered himself a warrior," Cynthia told the Seattle newspaper. "And so did the rest of us."

On May 9, while on patrol in Al-Hillah, 60 miles south of Baghdad, an improvised explosive device detonated near Conner's humvee, fatally wounding him.

"We thought he was invincible," his widow said.

John Rutherford is a Vietnam veteran who earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service, and is also a 28-year veteran of NBC News.

As we recognize those servicemen and -women buried at Arlington National Cemetery, we want to offer you the chance to share the stories of other fallen military personnel either in personal remembrance and reflection or through public funeral or memorial announcements. All verifiable submissions for servicemen and -women who died in combat are welcome, as are photos of the deceased. Click here to submit yours.

Editor's note: Washington Producer John Rutherford writes a weekly blog on the soldiers and Marines buried at Arlington National Cemetery. There were no public burials this past week, so he is writing instead on a Purple Heart ceremony today at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Small-town America is bleeding for the rest of the country.

A disproportionate number of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be from towns most Americans have never heard of, towns like Gladys, Va., Clinton, Utah, and Spring Lake, N.C.

At a ceremony today at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 19 soldiers, most of them from similar small towns, were awarded Purple Hearts. We asked some of them why they joined the Army.

"My dad did three tours in Vietnam, my brother was infantry," Sgt. Blayne Sheets, 21, of Berea, Ohio (pop. 18,970), said. "I just thought I'd do my part, too."

For Spc. Evan McQuistun, 24, of Trenton, Fla. (pop. 1,617),  the reason was more practical.

"For a job," he said. "There's not a lot of places to work in Trenton."

Spc. Michael Cameron, 21, of LaGrange, Ga., (pop. 25,998) was attracted by the educational benefits.

"I always liked the FBI, and I noticed that school was always expensive, and by joining the Army, they pay for college and for schooling," he said. (Click here to watch video, learn more about Cameron)

Most soldiers, either from small towns or large cities, probably enlist for similar reasons, so why so many from small-town America?

"There's nothing else to do, sir," Sgt. Sheets said. "We go out and want to have fun. That's all it is."

So the Army's fun?

"I think so, sir. I'm in for life."

Spc. Michael Brown, 24, of Torrington, Conn., (pop. 35,202) said there's not a lot of opportunities in small towns.

"But my decision was to give back to my country," he said. "I felt like I wanted to do something good, and I know I did, and I'm proud of myself for it."

So are we.

Arm-in-arm with a military escort, Joanne Sutton led the procession of mourners to the graveside service for her husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Greg Sutton, who was killed June 6 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

Mrs. Sutton, 3-year-old daughter Cailee, and 2-year-old son Greg Jr., were among family and friends gathered Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery for Sgt. Sutton's burial.

For Greg Lamonte Sutton, 38, of Spring Lake, N.C., the Army was a way of life. His father, Sgt. 1st Class Claude Sutton, served in the Army for more than 20 years, mostly with the 82nd Airborne Division. Greg Sutton followed his father into the Army but not into the 82nd Airborne.

"He didn't want to jump out of airplanes," his sister Trivilla told the Raleigh News & Observer.

But he loved everything else about the Army, especially its discipline and authority.

"I would still listen to him even as old as I am," his 37-year-old sister Evette told the Greenville Daily Reflector.

Sutton had been in the Army for 15 years and in Iraq for five months when the roadside bomb tore through his truck, killing him instantly. (Roadside bombs now account for roughly 80 percent of U.S. deaths in Iraq.)

For Sutton's sister Evette, the hardest part was not being able to see his face again. The Army said his funeral had to be closed casket.

"I wanted to see his face," she told the Daily Reflector, "kiss his face one last time."

Editor's note: A Vietnam veteran who earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service, John is also a 28-year veteran of NBC News.

As we recognize those servicemen and -women buried at Arlington National Cemetery, we want to offer you the chance to share the stories of other fallen military personnel either in personal remembrance and reflection or through public funeral or memorial announcements. All verifiable submissions for servicemen and -women who died in combat are welcome, as are photos of the deceased. Click here to submit yours.

Army Sgt. Charles Wyckoff, who was buried today at Arlington National Cemetery, always managed to stay out of trouble growing up in Chula Vista, Calif.

"He was the good one," his aunt, Tina Perez, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "All of our nephews were in prison. He never got into gangs, he never got into drugs."

Wyckoff was also the first member of his family to graduate from college. He earned a degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona.

"He was a winner in our family," his aunt told the Union-Tribune.

Caption: Sgt. Charles E. Wyckoff poses before the U.S. flag in this photo courtesy of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Wyckoff joined the Army to go to flight school but ended up going to Afghanistan as an infantry sergeant. He talked to his mother less than a month ago.

"He said, 'Mom, I'm getting scared, the war is getting worse,'" his mother, Sylvia Wyckoff, told the Union-Tribune.

On May 30, Wyckoff exited a helicopter just before it lifted off and was shot down. All seven on board were killed. One week later he was fatally wounded by small arms fire while on patrol in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.

Hand-in-hand, his widow, Erika, and his two small stepchildren, Joshua and Alexandra, led the procession of mourners to today's graveside service.

"He was a man you could lean on, depend on, and trust," Erika said in a statement.

Wyckoff, 28, was the 335th casualty of the war in Afghanistan. Another 3,513 Americans have died in Iraq.

The burials at Arlington National Cemetery are becoming interconnected.

On May 29, Cpl. Christopher Murphy of Gladys, Va., was buried. He was killed in an ambush on May 12 in Iraq.

A week later, it was Cpl. Joseph Anzack Jr. of Torrance, Calif. He was captured in the same ambush. His body was found floating in the Euphrates River 11 days later.

Today, Staff Sgt. Joseph Weiglein of Audubon, N.J., was laid to rest. He was killed by a roadside bomb on May 29 while searching for two other soldiers captured in that ambush.

Several busloads of Weiglein's friends came down from New Jersey to pay final respects to the man known affectionately back home as "Sergeant Joe."

"He was the boy next door," Donald Borden, Weiglein's high school history teacher, told the Newark Star-Ledger. "Just a great kid."

Weiglein was home on leave in January. He visited Haviland Avenue Elementary School to thank the kids for sending Tastycakes, beef jerky, and Christmas ornaments to his unit in Iraq.

"It was like the kids were greeting a rock star," principal Carleene Slowik told KYW Newsradio.

Weiglein stayed until all their questions were answered. Where do you live in Iraq? What do you do there? What do you eat? Where do you sleep? What's the weather like?

"He was our hero," Slowik told KYW.

When Weiglein died, Audubon went into mourning.

"There's a lot of hugging going on," Slowik told the Star-Ledger. "A lot of sad kids."

To honor Weiglein, American flags were placed on every lawn in Audubon, nearly 3,000 of them. Beside each flag was a paper placard with Weiglein's photo and an inscription: "Our neighbor. Our friend. Our family. Our hero."

Joseph Weiglein is survived by his widow, his parents, his two sisters, and the other 9,041 residents of Audubon. He would have turned 32 on Wednesday.

Photo caption: Children and teachers from Haviland Elementary School stand in silence during the funeral procession of Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Weiglein in Audubon, N.J., on June 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Tim Larsen)

Editor's note: As a special to The Daily Nightly, John is attending every public military burial held at Arlington National Cemetery. A Vietnam veteran who earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service, John is also a 28-year veteran of NBC News.

We invite you to share the stories of other fallen military personnel either in personal remembrance and reflection or through public funeral or memorial announcements. All verifiable submissions for servicemen and -women who died in combat are welcome, as are photos of the deceased. Click here to submit yours.

Cpl. Joseph Anzack Jr., the soldier whose body was found floating in the Euphrates River two weeks ago, was buried today at Arlington National Cemetery, ending a cruel ordeal for his family.

Anzack's mother, father, and younger sister comforted each other during the brief graveside service for the 20-year-old gunner who, like so many of those buried around him, played high school football and couldn't wait to join the Army.

"One of those kids who would run through a wall for you," his high school coach told the Los Angeles Times.

Photo caption: Joseph Anzack Sr. mourns at the gravesite of his son. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

In late April, a rumor spread through Anzack's hometown of Torrance, Calif., that he had been killed in Iraq. But the Red Cross was able to track him down, and he called home to reassure his stricken parents that he was alive and well. He updated his MySpace Web page, "im not dead. im still kickin."

Then, on May 12, Mother's Day, his patrol was ambushed in Yusufiyah, about 40 miles south of Baghdad. Four American soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed. Three Americans, including Anzack, vanished, presumably captured.

"Now, he's missing for real," his mother Theresa told the Los Angeles Times. "I'm praying like I never prayed before."

But her prayers went for naught. Eleven days later, on May 23, Anzack's badly brutalized body was discovered in the river near Musayyib, 12 miles from the ambush.

"We said a prayer for the other two [missing] boys, then sat around and talked about Joseph, just sharing the love of my son and why we all loved him," his father, Joseph Sr., told the Torrance Daily Breeze.

The other two soldiers, Spc. Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty, are still missing, despite a massive search in the area known as the "Triangle of Death." An insurgent video claims they were also killed in captivity.

Editor's note: John files internal NBC News dispatches every time he attends a burial at Arlington National Cemetery. Brian has asked him to post those regularly here, which he'll do on Fridays from here on out. A Vietnam veteran who earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service, John is also a 28-year veteran of NBC News.

Also, because we are recognizing those service men and women buried at Arlington National Cemetery, we want to offer you the chance to share the stories of other fallen military personnel either in personal remembrance and reflection or through public funeral or memorial announcements. All verifiable submissions for service men and women who died in combat are welcome, as are photos of the deceased. Click here to submit yours.

Editor's note: Producer John Rutherford often covers military funerals for the Washington bureau. He filed this note in the internal NBC computer system and we were moved enough to share.

As the fighting in Iraq increases, so do the number of funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. Today, two men killed in the war were buried, including a celebrated Marine Corps major known as "the lion of Fallujah."

The Marine band and a 60-member Marine honor guard escorted the casket of Marine Maj. Douglas Zembiec to his grave. Navy Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Ray Houk could be heard exhorting the huge crowd, "We are all Marines," and Zembiec's widow Pamela was clutching an American flag long after the service ended.

Zembiec, 34, was killed by small arms fire in Baghdad on May 11. He earlier received a Bronze Star with a V for valor for leading his infantry company in repeated assaults against insurgents in Fallujah in 2004. The combatants were so close they were hurling grenades at each other from 20 feet apart.

"I never felt so alive, so exhilarated, so purposeful," he told The Los Angeles Times after that battle in which two Marines died and 18 were wounded. "There is nothing equal to combat, and there is no greater honor than to lead men into combat."

Zembiec, a native of Albuquerque, N.M., was an All-America wrestler at the Naval Academy, graduating in 1995. Besides his widow, he is survived by their 1-year-old daughter.

Later, another funeral was held for Army Spc. Matthew Bolar, 24, who died May 3 of wounds received when a bomb exploded while his unit was patrolling Baghdad.

Bolar grew up in Montgomery, Ala., and graduated at the top of his high school class in 2002. He joined the Army in 2004 and was on his second tour in Iraq.

"We were worried, really worried, about the second tour," his mother, Anne, told The Montgomery Advertiser.

On the day he died, his mother had baked a batch of his favorite cookies to send him the next day. That night, two men appeared at her door to notify her of his death.

"I would have nightmares about them showing up at night," she said. "And then when Vernon [her husband] came into the bedroom and said, 'You've got to get up, it's Matthew,' I thought... 'This is my nightmare.'"

Besides his parents, Bolar is survived by a sister.

Zembiec and Bolar are the 333rd and 334th casualties of the Iraq war to be buried at Arlington.

We are following developments in Iran today... where the Iranian government is detaining those 15 British sailors and marines.  There are reports that Iran may consider putting them on trial.  NBC's Stephanie Gosk will have the latest from London.

The pet food recall is growing... another brand of dog food has been added to the list.  NBC's John Larson has that story.

CNBC's Scott Cohn reports on America's new cash crop... corn.

In Nicaragua tonight... the story of an American convicted of rape and murder.  NBC's Kerry Sanders reports on why the case may not be clear-cut.

NBC's Janet Shamlian tells us about a troubled housing market… some homes going for less than the cost of a car… and they're still not selling.

And they're calling it the Arabic version of American Idol... tonight NBC's Tom Aspell tells us how one woman from Iraq... who won the competition... is bringing people together in Iraq.

It's all coming up tonight.  We hope you'll join us.

We are following the latest developments in Iran tonight. As the U.N. Security Council decides whether or not to place new sanctions on Iran, British officials are demanding that Iran release 15 British Marines and sailors who were captured by the Iranians this week. NBC's Rehema Ellis is following that story.

Also, there's new information on how the U.S. Army handled Pat Tillman's death. He's the pro football player turned soldier who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. A new report says nine officers including four generals could be held accountable for mistakes that were made following Tillman's death. NBC's John Yang reports.

We'll also discuss the latest development in the controversy surrounding Attorney General Alberto Gonzales with NBC's Political Director Chuck Todd.

On Friday, 13 tornadoes ripped through Texas and New Mexico Friday injuring 16 people and causing some serious damage. Gadi Schwartz of NBC affiliate KOB in Albuquerque, N.M., is following the story for us.

Elizabeth Edwards was out on the campaign trail with her husband and presidential candidate John Edwards Saturday, just two days after she announced that her cancer has returned. NBC's Jennifer London has that story.

NBC's Ian Williams has a candid look at the people of Iran tonight, and NBC's Lisa Myers tells us about a new investigation that has found that some doctors and other medical providers who owe more than $1 billion dollars in back taxes are still collecting money from medicare.

Plus NBC's Don Teague reports on the factory that makes Purple Heart medals that are awarded to service members wounded in combat.

It's all coming up tonight. We'll see you then.

Tomorrow marks the four-year anniversary of the war in Iraq.  Insurgent attacks continue… and the deaths of at least 7 more U.S. soldiers were announced.  We'll look at the cost of this war... and Tom Aspell will report from Baghdad. (See our complete online coverage here.)

John Yang will be at the White House covering the war at home.  Thousands take to the streets across the country in protest of the war… while lawmakers debate the future over this morning's news talk shows.  We'll also talk to CNBC's Chief Washington Correspondent, John Harwood.

Also tonight, Peter Alexander will have an update on today's high gas prices, along with a look ahead.

Jim Maceda has an inside look of Baghdad's makeshift medical centers.  Iraqi's continue to struggle to get even the BASIC medical care… Now US Army Medics care for civilians as part of a new effort to win over the hearts and minds of Iraqi's by tending to broken bodies.

We are following new development in Iraq tonight.  In the Anbar province 3 suicide bombers with chlorine-laden trucks killed 2 Iraqi policemen... and forced 350 others to seek treatment for exposure to the gas.  NBC's Tom Aspell is in Baghdad.

Also... we'll show you the war protests in Washington and other cities today.

We're following the latest controversy surrounding U.S. Attorney General Gonzales.  There have been calls from Democrats and one Republican lawmaker for his resignation.  NBC's John Yang has that story.

The impact of the big winter storm that hit the northeast last night is still being felt today.  Airlines canceled hundreds of flights... and stranded passengers were still hoping for a way out of airports today.   NBC's Ron Allen reports.

There's been a recall for 46 brands of dog food and 37 brands of cat food in the U.S.  Authorities are concerned that the food could cause kidney failure in the animals.  NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

Plus... NBC's Anne Thompson reports on a doctor with a mobile medical RV ... who is taking health care to people who need it along the Katrina ravaged gulf coast.

NBC's Ian Williams tells us what some Iranian people are saying about the U.S.

And we'll have the story of one woman… who went searching for her long lost relatives... and was surprised by who she found.

It's all coming up tonight. We hope to see you then.

On the day after a multinational conference aimed at trying to stop the violence in Iraq... there was more violence today... at least 20 killed in two separate attacks.  It comes just as President Bush plans to send 4 thousand more U.S. troops to Iraq... that's in addition to the 21-thousand troop surge.  NBC's Tom Aspell reports from Baghdad.  NBC's Kelly O'Donnell is traveling with the President in Colombia where Mr. Bush's visit prompted protests and tight security. And NBC's John Yang reports tonight on the new Republicans who are thinking about running for President.

Also, the baby that was kidnapped from a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, was found today in Clovis, New Mexico.  The baby girl has now been reunited with her mother in Texas.  NBC's Charles Hadlock reports.

You may have seen the video of professional hockey player Chris Simon of the New York Islanders... using his stick to hit New York Ranger Ryan Hollweg.  Today, the NHL suspended Simon for 25 games... the toughest punishment yet handed out by the league.  NBC's Dawn Fratangelo has that story.

NBC's Kevin Corke reports In-Depth tonight on the unique relationship between religion and the issue of global warming.

And NBC's Peter Alexander has the story of a Marine just back from Iraq... who's been ordered to play baseball.

It's all coming up tonight.  We hope you join us.