WARE — Army Pfc. Brian Odiorne was buried today with full military honors after dying last month while serving overseas as part of U.S. operations to dismantle the Islamic State.
A 21-year-old Ware native and 2014 graduate of Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School, Odiorne died in the Al Anbar province of Iraq on Feb. 20. Defense Department officials described his death as “non-combat related,” but have declined to go into any further detail.
While officials launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, friends and family grieved. By all accounts, the soldier was beloved and well-known within the community, a celebrated local athlete before entering active duty service in October 2015.
“From wearing those costumes of superheroes as a little boy to proudly donning the uniform of the U.S. Army, (Odiorne) was living his dream to make the world a better place, to bring light to the darkness,” said Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, who delivered the liturgy at All Saints Church in Ware on Saturday morning.
Odiorne, who is survived by his parents, two brothers, two grandmothers and a grandfather, was an artilleryman stationed out of Fort Hood, Texas. He served as a cannon crewmember with the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division as of May 2016.
His comrades-in-arms paid tribute to Odiorne shortly after his death, according to his unit’s Facebook page.
“We will never forget the way you made us laugh or how you said ‘OD smash’ as you loaded rounds. … You treated us like family and dealt kindness to every single person you encountered,” reads a post published on the social media network last month. “We know that you will be watching over us throughout the rest of our deployment and we will wait for the day when we see you at final formation.”
Back in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito also paid tribute, joining Odiorne’s family at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee on March 2 for the return of his remains. Baker ordered flags across the commonwealth flown at half-staff March 4 in honor of Odiorne and Petty Officer 3rd Clas Kristina Lee Cooley, of Feeding Hills, a U.S. Coast Guard machinery technician who died February 15.
“We honor and we cherish and we celebrate the men and women who serve, but we should always remember that for every one of them there is a mom and a dad and a brother and a sister or a husband and a wife who gives them permission to keep us safe and serve our country,” Baker told reporters last week.
Odiorne was near Ramadi, Iraq, when he died. His decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Army Service Medal. Defense Department officials posthumously awarded him awarded the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal and Overseas Service Ribbon.
He was buried in New St. William Cemetery in Ware.
“He was willing to put his own life on the line so that others could live in freedom and dignity,” Rozanski said.
Derrick Perkins can be reached at dperkins@gazettenet.com.