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thedrifter
05-19-07, 09:15 AM
A community pays tribute
By Mikaela Slaney and Matt Dunning
GateHouse News Service
Fri May 18, 2007, 04:28 PM EDT

Rockland honored a lost hero Tuesday morning.

The schools closed early, Union Street was shut down, and swarms of people gathered with flags to honor the memory and service of Walter O’Haire, 20, who was killed in Iraq on May 9 by enemy fire while serving in the Marines.

The ceremony and funeral was held May 15, on what would have been O’Haire’s 21st birthday.

O’Haire was a former student at South Shore Vocational Technical High School in Hanover, as well as Rockland High School.

He is survived by his mother, Maureen O’Haire and siblings William, Matthew, Margaret, Thomas, Kevin, Patrick and Kaylea-Rose.

He was the son of the late Thomas O’Haire, who served in the Navy.

“His brothers and sisters are very proud of him,” said Jack Mansfield, of South Dakota, O’Haire’s uncle and Godfather.

“He was unbelievable,” added Patti Ann King, O’Haire’s cousin. “He loved the Marines. After 9/11 he decided to go into the military, not because of politics but because he believed in his country.”

The Rev. James Hickey conducted a memorial service at Holy Family Church in Rockland on Tuesday morning. Union Street was blocked off on both ends and two fire trucks bowed their ladders creating a bridge that towered over the street, from which an American flag hung down. Schools were closed early and children walked the streets waving small flags.

Members of the Rockland Board of Selectmen, State Senator Michael Morrissey and Town Administrator Brad Plante were among many who attended the services. Representatives from the Whitman, Weymouth and Rockland Police Departments were on hand to pay their respects, led by Rockland Police Chief John Llewellyn. The Rockland Fire Department stood at attention outside of the church.

O’Haire’s casket was draped with an American flag and the crowd sang “God Bless America.” As the casket was carried by, uniformed attendees saluted and civilians covered their hearts.

An estimated 30 motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard paid their respects outside the church. The group, made up largely of veterans, travel to services for fallen soldiers. They had traveled from all over New England to attend the service.

“We’re just trying to do the best we can to support the families and honor the soldier,” said Richard Keniston, a captain of the Massachusetts branch of the Patriot Guard.

“I just felt I owe them something for what they have done,” said Tom Galligan, another cyclist from Rhode Island.

Following the service, a train of motorcycles, limousines, vans and cars followed the hearse to the Duxbury Cemetery. The service was to be followed with a 21-gun salute.

Mansfield said O’Haire’s family has been told they will receive the Purple Heart on his behalf.

“He wanted to be right there in the front line,” Mansfield said. “He signed up to be infantry, which puts you right up in the front line, and that’s what he wanted. I said, ‘You could end up in Iraq,’ and he said, ‘That’s what I want.’ He wouldn’t want it any other way.”

His family called him Wally or Gator, after the Wally Gator cartoon, or “Last Word Wally.”

“He would always get the last word, even if it was ‘yeah’ or ‘maybe,’” Mansfield said.

Mansfield, (who also goes by ‘Rippa,’ a nickname Walter created for him), recalled the day when he and other family members watched O’Haire graduate from boot camp.

“He was very proud,” Mansfield said. “At the end they told us we could thank him and I yelled out ‘we love you Gator!’”

Mansfield said O’Haire later told them, “I heard you right away because (I) heard the word ‘Gator,’”

“And his buddies were saying, ‘They’re talking about you’,” Mansfield said.
Mansfield said O’Haire had lots of friends.

“He’s the kind of guy you’d love to hate,” he said. “He loved to push buttons and he was great at it. He pushed mine. He was a great kid, very unique.”

O’Haire joined the Marines in December of 2005 and went to Iraq this past March, Mansfield said. It was just shy of his sixth week in Iraq, he said.

Mansfield recalled speaking to O’Haire three days before he was killed. O’Haire had told Mansfield he did not have much time to talk, but gave him an email address where he could receive mail while in Iraq.

Mansfield recalled writing O’Haire an email last Wednesday, and hearing of his death later that day.
“I don’t think he ever got it,” Mansfield said.

Mansfield wrote about O’Haire’s approaching 21st birthday, which would have been Tuesday.

“When I emailed him I said we’d go have a few drinks and celebrate being a man, but he never got to,” Mansfield said. “I have the email and I know he never got to open it. I have it on file. I’m not going to delete it. I’m going to keep it. I sent the email that morning and they called that evening and said he had been killed.”

Gene Kelly, assistant principal and Dean of Students the South Shore Vocational Technical High School in Hanover, said several faculty members were distraught last week when they heard news of O'Haire's death. O'Haire studied carpentry at the school before enlisting in the Marines.

"Walter was a nice kid," Kelly said. "He was a real polite young boy. He had to work hard in class while he was here, and he did. He worked hard."

Kelly said O'Haire was well liked by his teachers at the Vo-Tech, as many of them had planned to attend his wake on Monday, and had requested to take Tuesday afternoon off to attend his funeral.

Ellie