HAZLETON - Hooves clanked on the pavement as two horses pulling a caisson carried an old soldier through city streets Wednesday.
A flag shrouded the casket of William J. "Billy" Youngcourt, who died Friday at 64 after serving in Vietnam and supporting the troops through a civilian career at the Tobyhanna Army Depot.
The horses pulling his caisson were as black as the overcoat and top hat of the driver who held their reins, Joseph Tetz.
Tetz, whose firm is based in New Tripoli, Lehigh County, said horse-drawn funerals would have looked familiar to Hazleton residents before automobiles took over the streets.
Behind him, Edward Yanoski and George Rhoades, wearing long coats and Stetson hats, rode their horses and led another horse, saddled but riderless, for their friend.
For decades, the trio went horseback riding along trails of Northeastern Pennsylvania and beyond.
Youngcourt wanted horses at his funeral, Rhoades, of Weatherly, said.
Yanoski, who lives in Drums, said they were taking their last ride together.
"Just finishing up, but we've had a lot of them," he said.
As the horses gathered for the procession in front of Boyle Funeral Home on South Wyoming Street, so did spectators.
A mother carried her young son outside to watch the funeral procession pass their home on South Laurel Street. Along a plaza at West Juniper Street, people took pictures as the horses passed.
The horses were a rare sight for many, but common companions for Youngcourt.
His father had a stable on the Freeland Mountain so he grew up riding.
One day, his horse galloped wildly, heading down the mountain toward a group of workers building a highway. He didn't want the workmen to think he lost control so instead of trying to rein in, he hollered "Yaw, Yaw" and kept charging past them.
"That's a true story," Michael McCloskey said after telling it during Youngcourt's funeral at Trinity Lutheran Church.
McCloskey and Youngcourt worked at Tobyhanna and traveled together to Saudi Arabia, Korea, Germany, Italy and France.
People seemed to know Youngcourt everywhere and he was always pleased to greet them, including Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, who gave Youngcourt a coin after discovering him hard at work in an area that a security detail cleared.
"What will that get you?" Youngcourt asked while fingering the coin.
"That will get you in my office," the general replied, according to McCloskey.
Youngcourt's daughter, Yvette Salas, said a doctor commented that Youngcourt wasn't like other patients who retreated as their health failed. When given bad news, he fought harder.
"That is the spirit of an American hero," she said.
Her father received two Purple Hearts for wounds suffered in Vietnam.
Veterans spoke at his service.
Outside the church, they held flags, fired rifles and played taps in his honor after carrying out his casket and placing it again behind the horses.