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Hundreds Line Pittsfield Streets to Mourn Fallen Soldier

UPDATED: May 23, 2013 at 4:15 p.m.

DALTON, Mass. — A procession transported the body of Army Spec. Mitchell Daehling to St. Agnes Church on Thursday.

Calling hours are from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Thursday and the funeral will be held on Friday. The procession began at Dery Funeral Home in Pittsfield and proceeded up North Street to East Street, across Plastics Avenue to Dalton Avenue to Merrill Road and into Dalton.

The route again was lined with citizens paying their respects. The Dalton Police Honor Guard served a pallbearers and the Dalton Fire Department raised a flag outside of the church.

Daehling arrived shortly after noon. Photos from the procession can be found here.

Army Spec. Mitchell Daehling's body returned to the Berkshires on Wednesday. A funeral service will be held on Friday. More photos can be found here.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Area residents from Lee to Pittsfield lined streets Wednesday to honor fallen Army Spec. Mitchell Daehling, as a procession carried his body back to Berkshire County.

The 24-year-old Wahconah High School graduate was one of four soldiers who were killed on May 14 by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

Daehling's body was transported by Patriot Guard Riders, Dalton Police and state police, along with individual town police to Dery Funeral Home on Wednesday. A funeral with full military honors will be held on Friday at St. Agnes' Church in Dalton.

"He'll be awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart," Veterans Agent Rosanne Frieri said.

Hundreds of people lined North Street on Friday, including local businesses, schools and organizations. The Fire Department raised a flag near the intersection of Bradford Street for the motorcade to cross under as it made the final turn into the funeral home.

At the funeral home, Patriot Guard Riders from all over the region stood guard with flags and waited until the family left.

But the honor wasn't just in Pittsfield. The body was transferred to Barnes Air National Guard Airport in Westfield Wednesday morning, where Frieri said he received full-military salutes.

He was the recipient of the National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat and Special Skills Badge and the Basic Marksmanship Qual Badge, Expert.

He married the former Samantha McNamara of Westford last June and six months later was deployed to Afghanistan. The couple lived in Westford. Daehling also leaves his brother, Adam, and sister, Kayla, both of Dalton; his maternal grandmother, Mary Sander; paternal grandparents, William A. Daehling and Violet J. Daehling, of Clarkston, Wash.; and his wife's family.

The funeral will take place Friday at 11 a.m. at St. Agnes' Church and the body will be transferred to Lewiston, Idaho, where he will be buried next to his grandfather, Kenneth J. Sander, who was also awarded a Purple Heart for his service during the Korean War. Sander died in 2009.

Those expected to attend the funeral include U.S. Department of Veterans Services Secretary Coleman Nee, Gov. Deval Patrick, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal.

Calling hours will be held on Thursday from 4 until 7 p.m. at St. Agnes Church. Westford Veterans Service Officer Terry Sadler, who rode with the motorcade Wednesday, said a memorial is expected to be held at St. Catherine's Church, where the couple was married, at a later date.

"There has been some discussion but nothing is confirmed. There is no date set," Sadler said.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations in his memory be may be made to the USO or the Military Friends Foundation in care of Dery Funeral Home, 54 Bradford St., Pittsfield, MA 01201.

Toys for Tots Bringing Presents to Thousands of Kids This Year

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
12:21PM / Friday, December 05, 2025

Volunteers organize toys by age and gender in the House of Corrections storage facility. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Plenty of toys are on their way to children this holiday season thanks to Toys for Tots.

Christopher Keegan has coordinated the local toy drive for the Berkshire Chapter of the Marine Corps Reserve since 2015 and said he has seen the need rise every year, last year helping more than 6,000 kids.

"This is 11 years I've been doing it, and the need has gone up every year. It's gone up every year, and I anticipate it going up even more this year," Keegan said.

On Thursday, the Berkshire County House of Corrections storage facility was overflowing with toys making it the county's very own Santa's workshop. 

Keegan said Berkshire County always shows up with toys or donations. 

"This county is outstanding when it comes to charity. They rally around stuff. They're very giving, they're very generous, and they've been tremendous in this effort, the toys for pride effort, since I've been doing it, our goal is to honor every request, and we've always reached that goal," he said.

Keegan's team is about 20 to 25 volunteers who sort out toys based on age and gender. This week, the crew started collecting from the 230 or so boxes set out around the county on Oct. 1.

"The two age groups that are probably more difficult — there's a newborn to 2s, boys and girls, and 11 to 14, boys and girls. Those are the two challenging ages where we need to focus our attention on a little bit more," he said.

Toys For Tots has about 30 participating schools and agencies that sign up families and individuals who need help putting gifts under the tree. Keegan takes requests right up until the last minute on Christmas.

"We can go out shopping for Christmas. I had sent my daughter out Christmas Eve morning. Hey, we need X amount of toys and stuff, but the requests are still rolling in from individuals, and I don't say no, we'll make it work however we can," he said.

Community members help to raise money or bring in unopened and unused toys. Capeless Elementary student Thomas St. John recently raised $1,000 selling hot chocolate and used the money to buy toys for the drive.

"It's amazing how much it's grown and how broad it is, how many people who were involved," Keegan said.

On Saturday, Live 95.9 personalities Bryan Slater and Marjo Catalano of "Slater and Marjo in the Morning" will host a Toys for Tots challenge at The Hot Dog Ranch and Proprietor's Lodge. Keegan said they have been very supportive of the drive and that they were able to collect more than 3,000 toys for the drive last year.

Volunteer Debbie Melle has been volunteering with Toys for Tots in the county for about five years and said people really showed up to give this year.

"I absolutely love it. It's what we always say. It's organized chaos, but it's rewarding. And what I actually this year, I'm so surprised, because the amount that the community has given us, and you can see that when you see these pictures, that you've taken, this is probably the most toys we've ever gotten," she said. "So I don't know if people just feel like this is a time to give and they're just going above and beyond, but I'm blown away. This year we can barely walk down the aisles for how much, how many toys are here. It's wonderful."