Swampscott soldier killed in Iraq (Jared Raymond)

SWAMPSCOTT - Jaclyn Raymond, like every mother who has a child in the military, was always afraid she would get that knock on the door.

For Jaclyn Raymond that knock came Tuesday night when she was informed her son, Jared Raymond, 20, died in combat in Iraq.

Jaclyn Raymond, who requested that her family's privacy be respected at this time, spoke to The Item in July when Jared Raymond was home on leave. She said at the time, "I know God is taking care of him but I'm always afraid I'm going to get that knock on the door."

Jaclyn Raymond said when her son was home in July she got red, white and blue balloons for him and that she had given him Red Sox tickets and rented him a Corvette for a few days.

Raymond, an only child, joined the Army in July of 2004 - less than a month after his graduation from Swampscott High. He served with the 1-66 Armored Division Battalion 1.

Raymond's great aunt, Marge Iodice, said the entire family is devastated by their loss.

"He was more than a good kid. He had a heart of gold and everyone loved him," she said.

Wednesday morning Raymond's great uncle, Jerry Powers, pulled a handful of phone cards from his pocket.

"I was going to send these to him so he could call home," he said. "I had a bunch of hats and things I was going to send him."

Read the rest at the Daily Item

Swampscott son saw joining war as ‘right thing to do’

When Army Spc. Jared Raymond returned to Swampscott two months ago on leave from his tour of duty in Iraq, his mother took out an ad in the local newspaper welcoming him home.

Yesterday, 18 hours after two officers appeared on her doorstep with news that her only son was dead, Jaclyn Raymond sat on her living-room sofa and wept.

“Now look what I have to put in the paper,” she said, holding a sheet of paper containing the few details of his death she had for her 20-year-old son’s obituary.

At 1:15 p.m., Iraqi time, Tuesday, 45 minutes before the day’s patrol was to end, Raymond was responding to an attack on a convoy when a makeshift bomb blew up the tank he was driving, according to the account Army officials gave his mother.

“A tank,” his grandmother, Agnes Raymond, said, bowing her head as she sat on the living-room floor. “I thought it was a safe thing . . .”

Read the rest at the Boston Herald

A soldier's death leaves Swampscott stunned, sad

Jean Marino recalls the polite boy who grew up across the street and liked to make snow angels in her backyard. She recalls the tall, strong soldier hugging and kissing her when he came back from Iraq for a few weeks in July.

Rick McCarriston, a Swampscott police officer, recalls the car-crazy teenager who filled his cruiser with gas at the Gulf Station and wanted to know everything there was to know about V-8s and V-6s.

Jim Raymond recalls the earnest nephew who always wanted to be a Boston police officer, until he declared after Sept. 11, 2001, that he wanted to join the military. He recalls the eager 18-year-old who enlisted in the Army in July 2004, a month after graduating from Swampscott High School.

And now, those memories are tinted with grief.

On Tuesday, Raymond, 20, was killed in Iraq when his tank was struck by an explosive device, his family said.

He was the first person from Swampscott to die in combat since the Vietnam War, and his death sent shock waves through this town of about 14,000. At the Veterans of Foreign Wars post and elsewhere, flags flew at half-staff. Everywhere, it seemed, people were talking about Jared.

``It's a deep blow to the town," said John Sacherski, 60, a Vietnam veteran and commander of the local VFW post.

An only child, Raymond lived with his mother, Jaclyn, and grandmother, Agnes. He liked sports and played lacrosse in high school, but cars were his real passion. He owned a white Pontiac Firebird and read car manuals as some teenagers read comic books, his uncle said.

McCarriston, a fellow car buff, said that he and Jared Raymond would talk cars for hours by the pump at the Gulf Station. He remembered how politely Raymond would interrupt their conversations to attend to other customers, saying, ``Sorry, just one minute, sir."

Read the rest at the Boston Globe

Death hits neighborhood hard

SWAMPSCOTT - Pitman Road resident Jean Marino, who lived across the street from Jared Raymond, said the 20-year-old Army specialist who was killed in Iraq Tuesday was the greatest kid who ever lived.

"He used to play with my granddaughter, Sam, all the time and the two of them would make snowmen and snow angels," Marino said. "When you lose someone this close to you, and he was close, it really hits home. He was a one-in-a-million kid. There will never be another like him."

Raymond was killed Tuesday 45 minutes before his patrol was to end. According to the Army, Raymond was responding to an attack on a convoy when a bomb blew up the tank he was driving.

Attorney William DiMento, whose office is at the end of Pitman Road, said Raymond was a great kid in the neighborhood.

"Jared, his mother (Jaclyn) and his grandmother (Agnes) were an extremely close family. This is an unbelievable tragedy because they are so close," DiMento said. "They didn't just kill Jared the other day, they basically killed three people. This is just such a tragedy. It was always like it was the three of them against the world."

Read the rest at the Daily Item

Raymond to get fitting farewell

SWAMPSCOTT - Jared Raymond's uncle, Jim Raymond,said that next week's military funeral for the Army specialist killed in Iraq Tuesday will be nothing short of a celebration of the 20-year-old's life.

"Unfortunately for us we have to start another chapter of our lives without Jared. But his sendoff is going to be a complete celebration of his life," Jim Raymond said in front of Jared Raymond's home on Pitman Road Thursday afternoon. "We do not have any definitive plans or dates at this time but it is going to be a very large funeral."

Swampscott Veterans Agent James Schultz said he has begun planning for the funeral and is expecting a caisson to carry Raymond's casket to Swampscott Cemetery, where his body will be laid to rest.

"I can tell you, there has never been a funeral in Swampscott that has been as big as the funeral for Jared Raymond will be," Schultz said. "I would expect the town of Swampscott to turn out for Jared's funeral the same way the town of Marblehead turned out for the funeral of Staff Sgt. Chris Piper."

Although no one knows when Raymond's body will be returned to Swampscott, it has been recovered to the United States and is now at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

"I am hearing that his body could be flown to Boston as early as Monday and I am expecting to have a police escort to bring him back home," Schultz said after meeting with family members.

Jim Raymond said it has been a very tough couple of days for the family, but quickly wanted to talk about his nephew.

"This was a kid who never asked for anything. He simply made a positive impression on so many people," Jim Raymond said. "He was a driven young man who always talked from his heart and simply loved his family. If you were going to have a kid, Jared was the kid you wanted to have. He was just a model, model kid."

Read the rest at the Daily Item