“Let me tell you a beautiful story,” the National Guard chaplain’s voice echoed through the cavernous church Saturday.

The setting was an elementary school gymnasium on Veterans Day. Most of the students were sitting on the floor, fidgeting. There were others confined to wheelchairs.

“You have to be very brave to be in the Army,” the principal told the students as she introduced the guest of honor, Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Anthony Brozovich.

Brozovich walked from the stage to one of the boys in a wheelchair.

“I’m not so brave,” he told the students.

“(He) is really brave,” he said of the boy in the wheelchair.

The boy beamed.

The students were captivated.

“Dan then told them why he loved serving his country,” Lt. Col. Doug Etter said in eulogizing his fallen comrade.

Brozovich was a man with a twinkle in his eye and devilish grin on his face, Etter said.

He was killed Oct. 18 in Ashraf, Iraq. He was 42.

A Greenville resident who grew up in the Pittsburgh area, Brozovich worked at the State Correctional Facility in Findley Township and formerly worked at the Werner Co. in Sugar Grove Township.

Brozovich was attached to the 107th Field Artillery Battalion in New Castle. This was his second tour of duty in Iraq.

North Sprague Avenue in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bellevue was lined with people waving flags Saturday. The rain and cold wind seemed to stop for a moment before noon and the sun briefly made an appearance as the coffin holding Brozovich was carried into the Church of the Assumption.

The sounds of “Amazing Grace” filled the church as mourners filled the pews.