Fallen prosecutor remembered as a hero
David Scott Connolly was remembered yesterday as a man with a strong sense of values who took on challenges in a variety of endeavors in order to make a difference in people's lives.
More than 850 mourners gathered at the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Chestnut Hill to mourn Connolly, 37, an assistant district attorney for Suffolk County and a captain in the US Army Reserve who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan earlier this month.
After the funeral, Connolly was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and promoted to the rank of major before being buried in Newton Cemetery with full military honors, including a gun salute.
Major Paul Caruso, public affairs officer for the 94th Regional Readiness Command, said of Connolly: ''He did not die in vain. He died serving his country. He died very honorably. For every soldier, every serviceman, even if you didn't know Dave Connolly, this is like losing a brother. We can all put ourselves in his shoes."
The church pews were packed with Connolly's childhood friends from Newton and co-workers from the Suffolk district attorney's office.
Mourners included military and school friends, along with law enforcement and military personnel. Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, who hired Connolly as a prosecutor in 2003, were in attendance, along with Major General Dennis J. Laich and other military personnel.
Marguerite Connolly, one of Connolly's two sisters, said the way her brother was honored helped ease her family's pain. ''Boston College, Suffolk University Law School, the Army, the town of Needham, the city of Newton. Everyone came out to respect the ultimate service that my brother gave," she said. ''With the tragedy that our family has been through, he was honored in a way that gave us some comfort," she said.
Gregory Connolly, one of Connolly's four brothers, recalled his older sibling as a man ''with a strong sense of values in a society consumed by the individual. David believed in others."
He added: ''Many a summer night, we sat listening to the [Red] Sox, fishing for stripers in the harbor. Leisure was on the agenda, but the conversation often turned to a series of questions: 'Could you do more, could you do better, could you make a difference?' "
Connolly grew up in Newton and attended Newton South High School. He enlisted in the Coast Guard, then enrolled at Boston College. While there, he joined the ROTC program and quickly distinguished himself. He won the Boston College ROTC program's Veterans of Foreign Wars Award in 1993 and the Reserve Officers' Association Award in 1994.
After graduating in 1994, he joined the Army's elite Ranger special operations units. He attended Suffolk University Law School, from which he graduated in 2003. Also that year, he married his wife, Debra, and landed a job with the district attorney's office as a prosecutor.
Last fall, Connolly's Brockton-based 1173d Transportation Battalion was sent to Afghanistan.
On April 6, Connolly was traveling in a CH-47 Chinook helicopter about 80 miles southwest of Kabul, the Afghan capital.
It was returning from delivering personnel, mail, and supplies to an Army base in Bagram when it crashed. All of the 18 persons on board were killed. The Army has said the crash was caused by bad weather.
During the funeral Mass, the Rev. Joseph O'Keefe said Connolly's death was sad for those who loved him because he ''had a future filled with hope" that will never come to pass. But he urged Connolly's survivors -- especially his nieces and nephews who crowded into the front pews -- not to become lost in their grief.
''When you are overwhelmed with grief, remember he was a hero. We should be filled with gratitude for his life and his sacrifice," O'Keefe told them.
The Rev. William P. Leahy, president of Boston College, encouraged the mourners to seek solace in their faith. He said that an Easter candle was burning bright, in front of Connolly's casket. Even during times of crisis, he said, ''it still burns."
At the end of his eulogy, Greg Connolly encouraged the congregation to follow his brother's example.
''Through a single act of kindness, persevering in achieving a personal goal, or supporting a cause for which you have conviction, there could be no more powerful testament and legacy to my brother David than for each of us to leave here today and make a difference in the lives of others," he said.
Christine McConville can be reached at cmcconville @globe.com.
