thedrifter
10-02-05, 05:44 AM
'Man of uncommon courage' is recalled
Soldier died in Sept. blast
By John Briggs
Gannett News Service
October 1, 2005
RUTLAND, VT — The funeral of Mark Dooley, a first lieutenant in the Vermont National Guard and a Wilmington police officer, drew police officers, soldiers, Marines and Air Force personnel from across the state and region. More than 500 mourners packed Christ the King Church in Rutland for the funeral service.
Dooley, 27, was killed Sept. 19 by a roadside bomb as he patrolled near Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was a member of the 3rd battalion of the 172nd Mountain Infantry Regiment.
The gathering Friday was so large that traffic was slowed along U.S. 7 in Rutland both before and after the funeral.
Dooley's father, Peter Dooley, a former Air Force transport pilot, said later that the massive "outpouring of love" surprised the family.
"I was blown away," he said after the flag presentation ceremony and reception at the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford. "I was so impressed."
Dooley was sworn into the Wilmington police force only two months before he went to Iraq, and his father said the Wallkill native had fallen in love with Vermont during his years at Norwich University and as a police officer.
"I'm sure if he'd come back from his tour," he said, "he would have settled here."
He said the last he'd heard from his son was a phone message Mark left the family, telling them "everything's fine."
Two hours later, he said, the chaplain from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and another officer knocked at the front door of their Wallkill home.
"And then it wasn't fine anymore," he said.
Dooley's final message was even more poignant.
During the service, Peter Dooley read, with evident difficulty, from a letter he said his son handed him in a sealed envelope just before he left for Iraq, to be opened only if he were killed.
In the letter, Mark Dooley wrote that it was "immensely hard to put into words raw emotion or put down on one piece of paper what you want people to remember you by. However," he wrote, "if you're reading this then I am not able to convey either in person. The best thing I can state," he wrote, "is how much I love all three of you."
He told his father he had "always tried to think what you would have done. The greatest boast I could ever make," he wrote, "was that I was your son."
He urged his mother not to "be angry or let sadness dominate your heart. Be proud."
To his brother, Peter C. Dooley III, known to the family as Charlie, he told him to remember that "a good run can make stupid small things disappear, and that a funny movie is time well spent with family and friends." He urged him not to believe in limitations, because "anything is possible. It's perseverance," he wrote, "that most of the world lacks."
"Time will ease pain," he concluded his letter, addressing all of his family. "My last request is that you continue to live fulfilling happy lives with God's hands holding you safely. I will see you all in God's perfect time."
Mourners at the 11 a.m. service made their way into the church past an honor guard of Vermont National Guardsmen flanking the sidewalk and heard Dooley eulogized as a "brilliant" tactical combat leader, a symbol of the best of American values and "a steadfast best friend."
Governor leads tributes
Gov. Jim Douglas, speaking in a church that remained hushed through the service, called Dooley "a man of uncommon courage," and lamented the "great insufficiency in our language" to properly memorialize the young soldier.
"I'm certain that all Vermont stands with me today," he said. "Vermont won't stop being grateful."
Vermont Guard commander Maj. Gen. Martha Rainville recalled Dooley as a charismatic young soldier of "strong personal values."
"How special he was," she said, and told the packed church that after his death, she began receiving an unprecedented flood of e-mails and letters from former commanders and trainers and friends extolling his personal virtues, his "work ethic, dedication, vision and charisma."
One fellow officer wrote of him, she said, " 'Once you met him, he just stuck in your head.' "
Rainville said a passage from Henry Thoreau's "Walden" fit Dooley well: "I know of no more encouraging fact," Thoreau wrote, "than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor."
Dooley's battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jack Mosher, who called him "brilliant" as a leader of small units, said the day before they deployed in January, the young soldier, sitting beside a swimming pool in Mississippi with a cigar and a beer, told him, "I'm not afraid, sir. I have people who love me."
"His time was now," Mosher said, "and he knew it, and he was ready."
Ryan Anderson, who described Dooley as his "steadfast best friend," spoke of the difficulty of summing up his friend's life. If Dooley were there, faced with the same task, Anderson said, he would say, "Suck it up. Drive on."
Outside the church, as the service ended, not everyone knew Dooley. One woman, standing across the street, wiped away a tear as the Dooley family left the church.
"I'm just here to show my respect," said Yvonne Cimonette, whose son, she said, attends nearby Christ the King School. Her own stepson, she said, will leave for Iraq in October.
Arnold Williams, his face stolid, watched the end of the service intently. "I live just down the street," he said. His son, he added, his arms folded tightly across his chest, recently retired from the Air Force. "He was over there," he said. "He made it back OK. It's hard to see us lose boys."
Slightly apart, standing by himself, 10-year-old Levi Weeks, gazed with the others at the countless uniforms across the street.
"I just wanted to, like, see all the people," he said. "I thought I'd come and try to be happy for the people who died trying to save us in the wars, so I came here. I feel sorry for the person who died."
Contact John Briggs at jbriggs@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
Mark Dooley's letter
www.poughkeepsiejournal.c...169101.PDF
Ellie
Soldier died in Sept. blast
By John Briggs
Gannett News Service
October 1, 2005
RUTLAND, VT — The funeral of Mark Dooley, a first lieutenant in the Vermont National Guard and a Wilmington police officer, drew police officers, soldiers, Marines and Air Force personnel from across the state and region. More than 500 mourners packed Christ the King Church in Rutland for the funeral service.
Dooley, 27, was killed Sept. 19 by a roadside bomb as he patrolled near Ramadi, Iraq, west of Baghdad. He was a member of the 3rd battalion of the 172nd Mountain Infantry Regiment.
The gathering Friday was so large that traffic was slowed along U.S. 7 in Rutland both before and after the funeral.
Dooley's father, Peter Dooley, a former Air Force transport pilot, said later that the massive "outpouring of love" surprised the family.
"I was blown away," he said after the flag presentation ceremony and reception at the Vermont Police Academy in Pittsford. "I was so impressed."
Dooley was sworn into the Wilmington police force only two months before he went to Iraq, and his father said the Wallkill native had fallen in love with Vermont during his years at Norwich University and as a police officer.
"I'm sure if he'd come back from his tour," he said, "he would have settled here."
He said the last he'd heard from his son was a phone message Mark left the family, telling them "everything's fine."
Two hours later, he said, the chaplain from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and another officer knocked at the front door of their Wallkill home.
"And then it wasn't fine anymore," he said.
Dooley's final message was even more poignant.
During the service, Peter Dooley read, with evident difficulty, from a letter he said his son handed him in a sealed envelope just before he left for Iraq, to be opened only if he were killed.
In the letter, Mark Dooley wrote that it was "immensely hard to put into words raw emotion or put down on one piece of paper what you want people to remember you by. However," he wrote, "if you're reading this then I am not able to convey either in person. The best thing I can state," he wrote, "is how much I love all three of you."
He told his father he had "always tried to think what you would have done. The greatest boast I could ever make," he wrote, "was that I was your son."
He urged his mother not to "be angry or let sadness dominate your heart. Be proud."
To his brother, Peter C. Dooley III, known to the family as Charlie, he told him to remember that "a good run can make stupid small things disappear, and that a funny movie is time well spent with family and friends." He urged him not to believe in limitations, because "anything is possible. It's perseverance," he wrote, "that most of the world lacks."
"Time will ease pain," he concluded his letter, addressing all of his family. "My last request is that you continue to live fulfilling happy lives with God's hands holding you safely. I will see you all in God's perfect time."
Mourners at the 11 a.m. service made their way into the church past an honor guard of Vermont National Guardsmen flanking the sidewalk and heard Dooley eulogized as a "brilliant" tactical combat leader, a symbol of the best of American values and "a steadfast best friend."
Governor leads tributes
Gov. Jim Douglas, speaking in a church that remained hushed through the service, called Dooley "a man of uncommon courage," and lamented the "great insufficiency in our language" to properly memorialize the young soldier.
"I'm certain that all Vermont stands with me today," he said. "Vermont won't stop being grateful."
Vermont Guard commander Maj. Gen. Martha Rainville recalled Dooley as a charismatic young soldier of "strong personal values."
"How special he was," she said, and told the packed church that after his death, she began receiving an unprecedented flood of e-mails and letters from former commanders and trainers and friends extolling his personal virtues, his "work ethic, dedication, vision and charisma."
One fellow officer wrote of him, she said, " 'Once you met him, he just stuck in your head.' "
Rainville said a passage from Henry Thoreau's "Walden" fit Dooley well: "I know of no more encouraging fact," Thoreau wrote, "than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor."
Dooley's battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jack Mosher, who called him "brilliant" as a leader of small units, said the day before they deployed in January, the young soldier, sitting beside a swimming pool in Mississippi with a cigar and a beer, told him, "I'm not afraid, sir. I have people who love me."
"His time was now," Mosher said, "and he knew it, and he was ready."
Ryan Anderson, who described Dooley as his "steadfast best friend," spoke of the difficulty of summing up his friend's life. If Dooley were there, faced with the same task, Anderson said, he would say, "Suck it up. Drive on."
Outside the church, as the service ended, not everyone knew Dooley. One woman, standing across the street, wiped away a tear as the Dooley family left the church.
"I'm just here to show my respect," said Yvonne Cimonette, whose son, she said, attends nearby Christ the King School. Her own stepson, she said, will leave for Iraq in October.
Arnold Williams, his face stolid, watched the end of the service intently. "I live just down the street," he said. His son, he added, his arms folded tightly across his chest, recently retired from the Air Force. "He was over there," he said. "He made it back OK. It's hard to see us lose boys."
Slightly apart, standing by himself, 10-year-old Levi Weeks, gazed with the others at the countless uniforms across the street.
"I just wanted to, like, see all the people," he said. "I thought I'd come and try to be happy for the people who died trying to save us in the wars, so I came here. I feel sorry for the person who died."
Contact John Briggs at jbriggs@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
Mark Dooley's letter
www.poughkeepsiejournal.c...169101.PDF
Ellie