thedrifter
02-09-07, 05:19 AM
Swampscott pilot lived her dream
By Michael Levenson and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff | February 9, 2007
SWAMPSCOTT -- She was a skinny flute player in the band at Swampscott High School who set herself a goal: to attend the US Naval Academy and make it in one of the toughest branches of the military where women can fly directly into combat, the air wing of the Marines.
And so she did. Jennifer J. Harris ran long hours to whip herself into shape. She hit the books and graduated fifth in her class at Swampscott High. She made it into the Naval Academy and stuck with it, even as some of her fellow cadets quit, unable to stomach the physical rigors and demanding curriculum. And when she left Annapolis, she joined the Purple Foxes, a storied Marine helicopter squadron, and, after three years of training, headed for Iraq, where she flew big CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters into danger to rescue fellow military personnel.
Harris, 28, was aboard one of those giant choppers Wednesday when it crashed in flames in a field northwest of Baghdad, killing her and six other service members.
She was the first Massachusetts servicewoman killed in Iraq, and her death resonated deep and wide in Swampscott and beyond. Harris, who had served three tours in the war, was due to return to Swampscott next week and take a position as a Marine instructor for the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Last week, she sent friends an e-mail from Iraq, gushing about her return home: "Two more weeks!" she wrote.
Yesterday, her friends and loved ones, as well as town officials who knew her, were in mourning.
"This really hurts," said Matthew Malone, the superintendent of schools and a Marine veteran of the first Gulf War. "This is a woman who is a giant among Marines. The folks that get to fly combat aviation are the smartest, the most highly trained people committed to excellence in the entire Marine Corps. It's a huge accomplishment what she has been able to do in her career. And this is a horrible, horrible tragedy."
It was the second combat death of a Swampscott native since the Vietnam War. The first was Jared J. Raymond, a 20-year-old US Army specialist killed Sept. 19, when an improvised explosive device detonated near the tank he was driving in Iraq.
Yesterday, town firefighters draped their station in black and purple bunting. Police officers lowered the flag outside their headquarters to half-staff. Neighbors paid their respects at the Harris home. Across the country, friends circulated e-mails sharing memories of Harris, sailing off Nahant, playing softball, taking dance lessons.
"Captain Jennifer Harris exemplified the best of what this country has to offer," Anthony Macone, a family spokesman, said at the VFW Post. "She was proud to be a Marine, and she was proud to serve her country. . . . She had a passion for life and was a compassionate human being. Her family and friends will miss her very much."
Those who knew Harris recalled her transformation from a quiet page at the town library into a disciplined warrior. The only daughter of Raymond, a former General Electric worker, and Rosalie, a teacher, Harris had talked about becoming a pilot as a young girl, friends said. But it was not until she was a high school junior in 1995 that she set her sights on the Naval Academy.
"That's all she talked about, that she wanted to go the Academy," said Alyce Deveau, director of the library where Harris shelved books after school for three years. "It wasn't just a fluke. It was a dream of hers."
On evenings after school and work, Harris went for long runs, steeling herself for Annapolis. Former US representative Peter G. Torkildsen, in whose Salem office Harris interned in 1996, sponsored Harris's application, and Deveau helped her polish the wording.
In 1996, Harris entered the academy as one of about 170 women in a class of 1,000. Friends were proud of Harris, who had been a member of the Student Council at Swampscott High and a volunteer at the Swampscott senior citizens' dance and the American Heart Association.
"She could have done anything with her life," said Jill Murtagh, 28, Harris's friend and high school classmate. "She was brilliant, one of the smartest, hardest-working women I've ever known, academically and personally. She could have chosen any path, and I think it was a great honor for her to serve the country."
Harris graduated in 2000 and seized an opportunity to join the Marines as a helicopter pilot. Only about 6 percent of Marines are women.
"She always wanted to fly," said James Schwartz, a friend from high school. "She was always up for a challenge. Any one of those challenges -- the Naval Academy, the Marine Corps, becoming a helicopter pilot -- one is enough for the average person. She chose three. And the flying in a combat zone is four."
In 2003, Harris was sent to Iraq, where she evacuated wounded from Fallujah, a Sunni insurgent hotbed, according to an interview she gave to the Lynn Daily Item. She returned home later that year and spent time with her family. In 2005, she served in Iraq a second time and was serving her third tour this year.
Murtagh said Harris never missed e-mailing her a birthday card, no matter where she was, and added that Harris liked to forward jokes about the rivalry between the North Shore and the South Shore.
Virginia Lubrano, a neighbor of the Harris family, said that last year she asked Harris whether she feared returning to war. "If I have to go, I have to go," Lubriano quoted her as saying. "Hopefully, this will be the last time."
Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com; Ellement at ellement@globe.com.
Ellie
By Michael Levenson and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff | February 9, 2007
SWAMPSCOTT -- She was a skinny flute player in the band at Swampscott High School who set herself a goal: to attend the US Naval Academy and make it in one of the toughest branches of the military where women can fly directly into combat, the air wing of the Marines.
And so she did. Jennifer J. Harris ran long hours to whip herself into shape. She hit the books and graduated fifth in her class at Swampscott High. She made it into the Naval Academy and stuck with it, even as some of her fellow cadets quit, unable to stomach the physical rigors and demanding curriculum. And when she left Annapolis, she joined the Purple Foxes, a storied Marine helicopter squadron, and, after three years of training, headed for Iraq, where she flew big CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters into danger to rescue fellow military personnel.
Harris, 28, was aboard one of those giant choppers Wednesday when it crashed in flames in a field northwest of Baghdad, killing her and six other service members.
She was the first Massachusetts servicewoman killed in Iraq, and her death resonated deep and wide in Swampscott and beyond. Harris, who had served three tours in the war, was due to return to Swampscott next week and take a position as a Marine instructor for the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Last week, she sent friends an e-mail from Iraq, gushing about her return home: "Two more weeks!" she wrote.
Yesterday, her friends and loved ones, as well as town officials who knew her, were in mourning.
"This really hurts," said Matthew Malone, the superintendent of schools and a Marine veteran of the first Gulf War. "This is a woman who is a giant among Marines. The folks that get to fly combat aviation are the smartest, the most highly trained people committed to excellence in the entire Marine Corps. It's a huge accomplishment what she has been able to do in her career. And this is a horrible, horrible tragedy."
It was the second combat death of a Swampscott native since the Vietnam War. The first was Jared J. Raymond, a 20-year-old US Army specialist killed Sept. 19, when an improvised explosive device detonated near the tank he was driving in Iraq.
Yesterday, town firefighters draped their station in black and purple bunting. Police officers lowered the flag outside their headquarters to half-staff. Neighbors paid their respects at the Harris home. Across the country, friends circulated e-mails sharing memories of Harris, sailing off Nahant, playing softball, taking dance lessons.
"Captain Jennifer Harris exemplified the best of what this country has to offer," Anthony Macone, a family spokesman, said at the VFW Post. "She was proud to be a Marine, and she was proud to serve her country. . . . She had a passion for life and was a compassionate human being. Her family and friends will miss her very much."
Those who knew Harris recalled her transformation from a quiet page at the town library into a disciplined warrior. The only daughter of Raymond, a former General Electric worker, and Rosalie, a teacher, Harris had talked about becoming a pilot as a young girl, friends said. But it was not until she was a high school junior in 1995 that she set her sights on the Naval Academy.
"That's all she talked about, that she wanted to go the Academy," said Alyce Deveau, director of the library where Harris shelved books after school for three years. "It wasn't just a fluke. It was a dream of hers."
On evenings after school and work, Harris went for long runs, steeling herself for Annapolis. Former US representative Peter G. Torkildsen, in whose Salem office Harris interned in 1996, sponsored Harris's application, and Deveau helped her polish the wording.
In 1996, Harris entered the academy as one of about 170 women in a class of 1,000. Friends were proud of Harris, who had been a member of the Student Council at Swampscott High and a volunteer at the Swampscott senior citizens' dance and the American Heart Association.
"She could have done anything with her life," said Jill Murtagh, 28, Harris's friend and high school classmate. "She was brilliant, one of the smartest, hardest-working women I've ever known, academically and personally. She could have chosen any path, and I think it was a great honor for her to serve the country."
Harris graduated in 2000 and seized an opportunity to join the Marines as a helicopter pilot. Only about 6 percent of Marines are women.
"She always wanted to fly," said James Schwartz, a friend from high school. "She was always up for a challenge. Any one of those challenges -- the Naval Academy, the Marine Corps, becoming a helicopter pilot -- one is enough for the average person. She chose three. And the flying in a combat zone is four."
In 2003, Harris was sent to Iraq, where she evacuated wounded from Fallujah, a Sunni insurgent hotbed, according to an interview she gave to the Lynn Daily Item. She returned home later that year and spent time with her family. In 2005, she served in Iraq a second time and was serving her third tour this year.
Murtagh said Harris never missed e-mailing her a birthday card, no matter where she was, and added that Harris liked to forward jokes about the rivalry between the North Shore and the South Shore.
Virginia Lubrano, a neighbor of the Harris family, said that last year she asked Harris whether she feared returning to war. "If I have to go, I have to go," Lubriano quoted her as saying. "Hopefully, this will be the last time."
Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com; Ellement at ellement@globe.com.
Ellie