W. Mass. towns unite in mourning soldier's death

AGAWAM - If it takes a village to raise a child, the same can apply when it comes time to mourn one.

Almost 1,000 people from small hilltop communities in Western Massachusetts came to honor the life of Corporal Jeremy Paul Bouffard, 21, of Middlefield, one of 14 soldiers killed Aug. 22 when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Iraq.

With Governor Deval Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray, residents of Middlefield, Huntington, and Agawam came to pay respects to an outgoing soldier so popular that the service had to be held at Bethany Assembly of God in Agawam, which has a 1,200-person capacity, instead of the small church he attended in Huntington.

"Today Jeremy, it's just not big enough for you and what you've done for us," said the Rev. E.S. Toby Quirk, senior pastor of Pioneer Valley Assembly of God in Huntington, who presided over the service.

The start of the service was marked with solemnity, but it wasn't long before laughter rang through the church, as Quirk shared stories about Bouffard's penchant for making people laugh with jokes and pranks, including faux phone calls with his giggling sisters watching.

"If your restaurant ever got a call from an elderly Jewish man from Brooklyn named Saul Rosenberg asking if you found a pink cashmere cardigan in a booth in the back, well, that wasn't Saul Rosenberg," Quirk deadpanned as the congregation erupted with laughter.

Bouffard was a die-hard Red Sox fan - his sister Maegan Davis of Northampton said his exuberance made it "nearly impossible to watch a game with him" - but the only thing he was said to love more than his team were his wife and son.

"Jeremy proposed to Mandy again and again and again," said Quirk. "They would be in a public place, and he would ask to see the ring, and then he would get down on one knee and propose all over again, loud and romantically."

Bouffard made friends easily and was fiercely loyal, said Quirk, citing an instance when he defended a boy being bullied. It was clear from a young age that Bouffard was heading toward a life dedicated to the service and protection of others, he said.

American flags hung from every telephone pole on Main Street yesterday as the Patriot Guard Riders, a group of about 80 motorcyclists who honor fallen soldiers around the country, lined the entrance to the church holding flags and creating an arch over mourners who slowly filed in, many hand in hand or with arms around each other.

Bouffard's parents, Paula and Stephen, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, and three sisters, Davis, Therese, and Molly, filled the front row, along with his wife, Amanda, and baby son, Caleb, whose squeals resonated in quiet moments during the ceremony.

Dozens of Army and Navy personnel were present, including one soldier who served with Bouffard and is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head.

Bouffard was an athlete who would go to great lengths to get in shape, including wrapping himself in Saran Wrap and jogging up and down stairs to make weight for the Gateway High School wrestling team.

But his strength went beyond muscle.

Choking back tears, Davis said her younger brother was one of the strongest people she had ever known, emotionally as well as physically.

But he wasn't afraid to show a soft side. Even in high school, he made a habit of ending every phone conversation with his parents by saying, "I love you."

"Those are the last three words that Jeremy said to his father," Quirk said.

Jeremy loved poetry. He had a tattoo of a verse from "The Light of the Stars" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and dabbled in writing his own poems, some of which were read at the service.

A third-generation soldier and a member of the 25th Infantry Division, Bouffard had been awarded the Bronze Star and was applying for warrant officer school and helicopter pilot training.

His family's grief was mixed with pride yesterday. "We're all here because Jeremy impacted our lives. . . . Sometimes it's all we can do, gather together and pray for the strength to face the future," Davis said. "Our world will never be the same, and it's not because Jeremy is gone. It's because he was here in the first place."