For those left behind

QUINCY -- A handwritten list of names hangs on Peter Trovato's office wall, a stark reminder of children's loss and their parents' sacrifice.

First is Chris, 11; then Katie, 9; Kevin, 3; Dean, 15; Kaitlyn, 15; and Camryn, 3. A photo of Camryn hangs beside the list. It was taken at the funeral for her father, Norman Darling , a private first class in the Army who was killed two years ago in a suicide car-bombing south of Baghdad.

The list of the 36 Massachusetts children who have lost a parent in Iraq or Afghanistan serves as Trovato's inspiration for an ambitious goal -- helping the children of fallen Massachusetts military personnel attend college someday.

Trovato established the Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund, a Quincy-based college endowment that he believes is the only tuition program of its kind in the United States. While a survey of services shows there are many similar national efforts by government and private charities, the Legacy fund appears to be the only comprehensive state wide effort for the children of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

``It's a way of letting those families know that their sacrifice is recognized, and the loss they are experiencing will not be forgotten over time," he said.

The campaign has raised $400,000 so far, with a goal of $700,000 by the end of the year. Ultimately, Trovato would like to raise $1 million and invest it in the hope that, by the time the younger children reach college, the fund can cover a good portion of the cost. The $700,000 would ensure a nearly $20,000 tuition award for each student.

Trovato envisioned the idea for the college fund two years ago while he was working as a legislative aide on Beacon Hill. As he combed through newspapers for pertinent stories, he was deeply moved by the stories of soldiers killed in action, and of their families' pride and grief.

Many were men about his age who gave up the comforts of civilian life to serve. One man died before ever meeting his newborn son. Wives were left to raise children alone and children to grow up without their fathers, he realized.

Trovato -- a standout hockey player at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, from which he received an athletic scholarship -- decided those children deserved the same opportunity to attend college.

``They were tough, sad stories, and they stuck with me," he said. ``The level of their sacrifice -- it was very humbling."

Trovato and his friends raised what they could, but he realized he needed to expand the effort, so he approached Rob Hale , the chief executive of Granite Telecommunications in Quincy. The two had met at Deerfield Academy. Hale helped him navigate the bureaucracy to establish a charitable fund, contributed generously to the cause, and donated office space and a budget to operate the campaign.

Trovato became the fund's director, and enlisted politicians, businessmen, and veterans throughout Massachusetts. He spoke with veterans agents in nearly every town in the state, sent out countless e-mails describing the fund, and contacted soldiers' families directly.

For some, college seemed too far off to worry about, particularly amid more pressing concerns. But most, he said, welcomed the help, and were touched by the gesture.

Trovato has come to know some of the families , which he said is deeply rewarding. He recently attended a memorial service in Marblehead for Christopher Piper, a Green Beret killed last year in Afghanistan, as a show of support for Piper's two teenage children and their mother.

And he is in regular contact with Samantha Perreault and her sister, Kyrstin, of Warren, whose father, Sergeant Theodore L. Perreault, died of noncombat-related injuries in 2003 at the Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The two girls are likely to be among the first scholarship recipients and, to Trovato's delight, Samantha has expressed interest in Trovato's alma mater. He plans to accompany her on a campus visit this summer.

``I'll march up to the chancellor's office and say, `Let her in,' " he quipped.

Camryn Darling's mother, Amy Prince , a Brockton native who lives in Florida, said the college fund keeps alive a dream of Camryn's father. ``The reason he went into the service was to give her a better life," she said. ``This is what he would have wanted."

Prince said Camryn thinks of her father as a ``superhero" and has generally coped well with his death . The other day, however, Camryn asked several questions about how he was killed, which she had never done before, her mother said.

``It was a hard day. I don't know what to say to her."

But the next day, when Prince was explaining the college fund, the 5-year-old asked whether the money was from a bank. Prince said no, it was from people who cared about her father. Camryn then told her mother to thank ``everyone for caring about me."

That sense of shared burden motivates Trovato, who wants families to feel honored long after the flowers, condolences, and memorial services.

``That worries me," he said. ``I don't want these families to become a statistic."

Bill Ramsey of Hingham, a Legacy trustee and former Army prosecutor who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the fund honors the ``memories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country," and can boost the morale of troops in harm's way.

Soldiers, especially those with small children, worry what their families would do without them, Ramsey said. A college fund might ease a measure of that fear, he said.

Trovato, who played professional hockey last year as he ran the campaign, is working full time on the campaign as he lives at home in North Attleborough. He plans to attend law school but hopes there are also some college graduations in his future.

``These were honorable guys who were trying to make a better life for their families," he said. ``Maybe, in a way, this can be like a gift from them."

For more information, visit www.mslfund.org. Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.