Two North Dakota soldiers will be laid to rest here this week. Sgt. Travis Van Zoest and Cpl. Curtis Mehrer, both of Bismarck, were killed June 6 when a roadside bomb exploded near the vehicle in which they were riding. The soldiers, members of the North Dakota National Guard's 188th Air Defense Artillery, were performing a reconnaissance mission near Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

Van Zoest and Mehrer were the first North Dakota Guard soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Ten soldiers from the North Dakota National Guard have now died in the last three years in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The funeral for Mehrer, 21, will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Zion Lutheran Church. Burial will follow at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, south of Mandan. A reception will be held after the burial back at the church.

Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Bismarck Funeral Home, located at the intersection of Highway 83 and Calgary Avenue in north Bismarck. A prayer service will be held at 6 p.m.

The funeral for Van Zoest, 21, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Church of Corpus Christi. Burial will follow at the Veterans Cemetery, with a reception afterward back at the church.

Visitation will be from noon to 8 p.m. Friday at Bismarck Funeral Home, with a time of sharing from 5 to 7 p.m. and a prayer service at 7 p.m.

Westboro Baptist Church, a radical parish from Topeka, Kan., sent notice to the Tribune that it plans to picket the funerals of both men. Members of the anti-gay church believe God is punishing American soldiers for defending a country that harbors homosexuals. Westboro parishioners protested the funeral of Spc. Michael Hermanson on June 2 in Fargo. Hermanson, a member of the Guard's 164th Engineer Combat Battalion, died in Iraq after his vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

The church has not taken out a permit to gather for its protest from the Bismarck Police Department, but it was unclear whether they would need to do so, a police spokesman said Monday.

The families of both soldiers have invited the Patriot Guard Riders to attend the funerals and burials. Dan Johnson, a member of the group, said more than 200 riders plan to attend.

"We want to be there to show our respect and honor, and to protect the family," Johnson said. "We'll form a human barrier. If the family is anywhere near where these protesters may be set up, it's our job to stand with our backs to the protesters and our flags toward the family."

Cards and letters for Mehrer and Van Zoest can be sent to: Bismarck Funeral Home, Attn: (Name of soldier), 3723 Lockport St., Bismarck, N.D. 58503.

Sgt. 1st Class Tim Wicks, who suffered two fractured legs and a fractured pelvis in the blast that killed his fellow soldiers, is recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Cards and letters for Wicks can be sent to: North Dakota Army National Guard, 68th Troop Command, Attn: SFC Tim Wicks, P.O. Box 5511, Bismarck, N.D. 58506-5511.