ARLINGTON, Va. - A cold, relentless rain accompanied the horse-drawn caisson to Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for Lt. Colonel Juanita Warman of Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Warnan, a military physician assistant, was the highest-ranking of the 13 killed earlier this month at Fort Hood, Texas.

"Juanita died, as she lived-- a hero, serving others," said Sheri Stern, one of Warman's friends. "She was such an alive woman. She loved what she did. She was very, very passionate about what she did, including loving her family."

Warman was buried with full military honors. Her husband Philip received the precisely folded flag that had draped her wooden casket.

Warman had worked with the Maryland Army Reserve's program to help returning soldiers re-integrate. But at age 55, she volunteered to go to Iraq (web | news) and was to leave the end of the month. She said she didn't want to wait for servicemen and women to come home to help them. She had gone to Fort Hood for processing the day before the shootings.

"She knew all the risks -- physical. mental -- which to me makes her a true hero," said Lt. Col. Michael Ganley of the Maryland Army National Guard.

Lt. Col. Warmna leaves behind a husband, two daughters, six grandchildren, and a mother -- all now so hurting and yet so proud.

A second soldier killed in the attack, Maj. Libardo Eduardo Caraveo of Woodbridge, Va., will be buried Wednesday. The 52-year-old Mexican immigrant had earned his doctorate in psychology and was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan.

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