This time, the six sergeants in white gloves and crisp blue uniforms couldn't keep their composure as they saluted the polished wooden casket.

Tears rolled down the cheek of Staff Sgt. Brian Carver.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael Landers' chin shook violently.

Each member of this honor guard, all Colorado National Guardsmen, had carried caskets in many funerals for soldiers and Marines who had died overseas.

But now they were preparing to bury one of their own.

Sgt. Jon Stiles, 38, of Highlands Ranch, was buried Friday at Fort Logan National Cemetery in a service he knew inside and out.

Before deploying to Afghanistan in March, Stiles had volunteered for years in the honor guard, presenting U.S. flags to relatives of dead soldiers.

"He understood that these guys who served before us deserved to have somebody fold the flag and present it to the next of kin," said Staff Sgt. Leonard Fahrni, who played taps and had participated in 20 to 30 funerals with Stiles.

"Jon was the kind of guy who would step up to the plate and do that kind of thing. He realized that he's part of a tradition that's ongoing."

Fahrni said the entire honor guard at the funeral knew Stiles and wanted to be there.

"We all hoped that years from now . . . that somebody would do this for us. Unfortunately, with Jon's case, it happened now."

Stiles was the third Colorado National Guardsman to die in recent fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. He died Nov. 13 after an improvised explosive device blew up near his vehicle in Jalalabad.

Maj. Gen. H. Michael Edwards, commander of the Colorado National Guard, praised Stiles for his commitment to his country. He said Stiles volunteered for a particularly dangerous mission - to clear roads of IEDs.

That's why Stiles had deployed with the Louisiana National Guard, which didn't have enough soldiers for the job.

He had been in Afghanistan since March and spent his days as a gunner atop vehicles in road-clearing missions.

In October, Stiles was injured in a similar explosion but still helped rescue other members of his unit, Edwards said.

Stiles was born in Bartlesville, Okla., and graduated from Broomfield High School. He spent about a decade in the Marines and the Army before returning to civilian life.

He was devoted to his wife, Launa. They would have celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary last Tuesday.

In 2006 and 2007, he studied aviation at Metropolitan State College of Denver.

Ryan Vergara-Manga took classes with Stiles. He said Stiles was generous and helped other students study for exams.

Vergara-Manga, a member of the Colorado Air National Guard, said Stiles didn't like civilian life and decided to enlist full time in the Army National Guard in 2007.

"It was what he really wanted to do - be a soldier," he said.

A service was held at Mount ainview Community Christian Church in Highlands Ranch.

In addition to his wife, Stiles is survived by his father, Lynn Stiles, and Lynn's wife, Cecelia; his mother Linda Barnett and her husband Larry of Missouri; sister Natalie Stiles of Lackland Air Force Base in Texas; brother Charles Lynn Stiles and his wife and children of Missouri; Kenneth Stiles of Ohio; grandparents Maxine and Kenney Stiles of Missouri.

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