Remembering SPC Jeremy Regnier 22, of Littleton, N.H.; KIA on Oct. 13, 2004 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol in Baghdad; assigned to the 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; Jeremy hoped to become a helicopter mechanic and spend a career in the Army.
Jeremy called home weekly and had just celebrated his birthday in Littleton in August while home on a two-week leave. Jeremy joined the military in 2000, serving about six months in the New Hampshire Army National Guard before choosing to switch to active duty. He served a tour in Korea before going to Iraq. He had hoped to become a helicopter mechanic and spend a career in the Army. Relatives said his first deployment changed him.
He would give you the shirt off his back he would do anything for anybody. Jeremy always told his family not to worry. Generations of his family have safely returned from wars, including his great-grandfather Wilford Regnier (WWI), grandfather Edgar Regnier and great uncle Richard Regnier (WWII) and his father Kevin from Grenada.
Jeremy was told his family, “Every Regnier that goes to war comes back. I know I’ll be back.” He had a skull wearing an Army helmet tattooed on one arm as a sign of his commitment to the military.
TO REMEMBER IS TO HONOR…
Remembering CPL Scott G. Dimond. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain), New Hampshire National Guard. Scott was KIA on Oct. 13, 2008, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device and his patrol was engaged in a small-arms fire attack.
He was a lifelong resident of Franklin and a graduate of Franklin High School, Class of 1987, where he participated in the football and track and field programs. He continued his interest in football after graduation, coaching the Franklin Pop Warner team.
Scott enlisted in the Marine Corps in his senior year of high school. He was medically discharged as a result of a serious football injury. Scott decided he would still serve our citizens, but in a different capacity when he began his law enforcement career in 1988 with the Franklin Police Department, retiring as a sergeant after 18 years of service.
He enlisted in the New Hampshire National Guard in 2006 while he worked on his nursing degree, looking forward to helping others in the health-care profession. Scott was a member of the Military Forces Honor Guard, traveling statewide, honoring those who served.
Scott, was 39-year-old and the father of four. He was traveling in a military convoy that came under attack near the city of Lashkar Gah , in southern Afghanistan . His unit deployed in January and was an embedded tactical training team with the Afghan National Army and police force. He had also been working full time in the Guard Honors Team, a Franklin-based ceremonial unit that travels statewide to honor soldiers killed in action.
He was a police officer in Franklin from 1988 to 2006. Former Franklin police chief Doug Boyd, hired Dimond. “He’s one of those guys, you wish you had five of them,” Boyd said. “He had a lot on the ball. He wanted to do a law enforcement career, and he wanted to do it in the town he grew up in.”
Jim Ryba, a retired Franklin police lieutenant, added that Dimond helped modernize the city’s police force. “We were just getting on board with computers back then,” Ryba said, “and he was instrumental in that.”
Dimond joined the Army National Guard after retiring from the force in 2006. He was part of C Company, 3rd of the 172nd Mountain Infantry Regiment.
Richard Fredette of Webster is a retired sergeant major in the Guard and the current director of the honors team. He said Dimond joined the Guard at an age far older than the norm. “Kids come in at 17, and Scott came to us when he was probably 36,” Fredette said. “There are kids right out of high school. It’s something Scott wanted. He was a career police officer in Franklin and decided he wanted to do his part with the military.” Dimond outdid other guardsmen during rigorous training, despite being more than twice the age of many recruits, according to Fredette. “He was a stellar performer in training,” Fredette said. “He got right out there with those 17-year-old kids, and he surpassed them in many situations, physically and with basic soldiering. He had a strong desire to be a member of the military, and he proved himself.”
After training, in the spring of 2007, Dimond asked Fredette if he could join his outfit, a full-time job. The honors team pays tribute to veterans of all wars at their funerals. Fredette said teams of three – two who fold the American flag and present it to the family, one who plays taps – travel nearly every day of the week for military funerals. He and Dimond, who folded the flag, worked together often.
“He’s been there with me many times as we’ve gone to the aircraft to bring our soldiers home from Afghanistan and Iraq ,” Fredette said. “We’re about ready to go get him. When they call us, we’re going to go to the airport and go pick Scott up.”
Please join the NH Chapter of Honor and Remember and the Manchester Monarchs for Mullets in November!
$20.00 Gold Level Tickets!
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 – 7PM
Raise awareness for the fight against men’s cancers!
Check out the Honor and Remember table on the concourse on Mullet Night!
Don’t miss the Mulllet giveaway, courtesy of Norris Cotton Cancer Center!
All Orders Due By: Monday, November 3rd ~ Make Checks Payable to: NH Chapter, Honor and Remember, Inc.
For Questions contact Sue Boore at sboore47@aol.com, or (603)554-1972
NH Honor and Remember Fundraiser
Remembering Army Sergeant Zachary D. Tellier. He was KIA on 09/29/2007 when insurgents attacked his unit at Firebase Wilderness, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, NC.
Zach grew up in Bedford, NH where he enjoyed drams, skateboarding, and producing videos. He was an accomplished drummer in a rock band and a fan of rock artists such as Led Zepplin, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and Dropkick Murphy’s.
In the summer of 1993, Zack was chosen to participate in a small student exchange program in Poland where the students produced documentaries together in order to learn each other’s languages and cultures. He returned to Poland for two more summers to teach video production and American History. During his high school years, he taught children at the German Language School in Manchester. He graduated from Manchester West High School in 1994 and from American University in 1998 with a degree in Communications and History. During college he interned at National Geographic Magazine where he helped to choose photos for publication. He was president of the American University Rugby Club.
In September 2005, Zack made the decision to enlist in the US Army. He wanted to be responsible for his own success at a job he knew he could do well while serving his country. His dedication to the Army was obvious to his fellow soldiers and commanding officers. He stated in one of his blog entries that h “never felt more alive” than he did while he was in Afghanistan doing his job.
In April, Zack suffered serious burns while pulling two buddies from their exploded vechicle. He spent two weeks in Baghram Air Force Base Hospital in Afghanistan, but he complained daily how he needed to get back to “his guys”. In his brief time in the Army, Zack was awarded two Bronze Stars, one with Valor, two purple hearts, and several other awards and decorations.
His wife Sara says, “I just want Zack to be remembered as a person with a huge heart, a strong sense of morality and integrity, and someone who did what he believed in, right up until the last moment. He was a hero in all of our eyes, but he never would accept being called one.”
Forward Operating Base Wilderness was renamed “FOB Tellier” in Zack’s honor.
Remembering Cpl. Philip Charte, killed on September 7, 2010 in a hostile incident while serving in Helmand Province with a Marine battalion based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
He was a rifleman, joined the Marine Corps in June 2007 and served in Iraq from August 2008 to March 2009. He was deployed to Afghanistan in June 2010, just after being promoted to corporal.
Philip Charte, (his Dad) – “My son Philip served his country with courage, honor and distinction. He was a great son, brother, nephew, uncle and friend. He will be missed sorely.”
Friends recalled him as a prankster – he once orchestrated a fake kidnapping that displeased the police – and a devoted athlete. They also painted a picture of a dedicated and strong young man — a 5’8” “pit bull” — who conquered New Hampshire’s wrestling championship in the 135-pound division as a high school junior. Charte gravitated to wrestling because it allowed him an outlet in lieu of academics, which didn’t come easily for him, said Todd Lavalle his wrestling coach at Goffstown.
The sport and the military fulfilled Charte’s competitive spirit and allowed him to develop skills that furthered his life and career, school officials said.
“He worked hard for what he had, and was a very passionate, purposeful and physical human being,” Lavallee said. “Those were his strengths.”
Goffstown High School Principal Frank McBride remembered Charte receiving a huge round of applause at the class of 2007’s graduation because Charte was leaving that evening to join the military. “He was a real gentleman, a soft, quiet kid who had a real fire to compete underneath,” McBride said. Wrestling made Charte tick and teachers respected him because he tried really hard in the classroom, the principal said.
Wrestling became Charte’s support system, and the Marines later filled that void, Lavallee recalled. “Phil brought out the best in Goffstown and Goffstown brought out the best in Phil,” he said.
Jen Dusseault, a high school friend from New Hampshire, said Charte had enlisted in the Marines before graduating, and left directly for boot camp on the day of their 2007 commencement. “He literally left his cap-and-gown and was gone,” Dusseault said.
Another friend, Josh Rouille, said he and Charte had met in the fourth grade, and had reunited when Charte moved back to New Hampshire. The two took technical classes together in high school, and had talked about opening an auto mechanic shop when their service was over, said Rouille, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard.
“He had a lot of heart for what he did,” Rouille said. “He definitely enjoyed what he was doing and where he was.”
He earned the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
TO REMEMBER IS TO HONOR…
