Paratrooper From Gaithersburg Is Buried (Thomas Barbieri)

Gerri Ferguson knew her son was nervous about Army boot camp, uncertain how grueling and intimidating it would be. Then he discovered that a childhood friend, Thomas Barbieri, would be there as well.

"He was so happy that someone he knew would be there, too," said Ferguson, whose son was best friends with one of Barbieri's younger brothers and spent a lot of time at Barbieri's Gaithersburg home when they were boys. "I remember him telling me, 'Now I won't be so scared to go.' "

Ferguson's son remained stateside. Barbieri reported to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., in February 2005 and was sent to Afghanistan that year to support the national elections. The 24-year-old specialist and paratrooper was deployed to Iraq about a month ago.

He was killed Aug. 23 by enemy fire south of Baghdad.

"I just burst into tears when I found out," Ferguson said. "He was a hero and an excellent soldier, and the nice thing is he was a great role model from the very beginning."

Yesterday, hundreds of mourners, led by a large Montgomery County police motorcycle escort, gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to honor a son, brother and friend they remembered for his humor and desire to be a soldier.

Among the mourners were dozens of firefighters who knew Barbieri from his two years as an emergency medical technician for the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department. They arrived with a 1963 firetruck, among other vehicles, which joined the motorcade with a prized vintage Mustang that family members said Barbieri had lovingly restored.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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