Air Force Staff Sgt. Galliher Laid to Rest With Honors
Some of Jake Galliher's Taconic teammates attend the funeral. His team won the Western Mass Football Championship. More pictures here.
Galliher, 24, a staff sergeant in the Air Force, was killed on Nov. 29 when the CV-22 Osprey he was on crashed off the coast of Japan during a joint military exercise. Both the U.S. and Japan grounded their CV-22 fleets during an investigation of the craft's failure.
He left behind his wife, Ivy Groshong-Galliher of Kirkland, Wash., and their two sons, Malcolm, 2, and Killian, age 9 weeks old, along with his parents, stepparents, siblings, and other relatives.
The funeral was closed to media but was livestreamed by Pittsfield Community Television with audio and video supplied by the church. Hundreds also attended the wake held at St. Agnes on Tuesday. The burial was private.
The family made a statement asking thanking the support and requesting that media keep its distance.
"Our hearts are filled with love and loss as we honor our beloved Jacob today and tomorrow. We are beyond grateful for the outpouring of support from those who loved Jake most, from throughout the Berkshires, from his Air Force and military family, from across Massachusetts and from around the world. Your love and support have brought us tremendous comfort, strength and solace during these unbearably difficult times. Jake's life was a blessing and his memory a treasure. The way he has been honored since his tragic loss means so much to his family and we know will help his young children better understand the lasting impact their Dad had on everyone he met. We will love and honor Jacob, always."
The Mass was celebrated by the Rev. Christopher Malatesta and attended by Bishop William D. Byrne of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
"You were all meant to be family and will be forever entwined in one another's lives ... because Jake has brought all of us together," said ?Malatesta of Galliher's family and the military men and women with whome he served. "Because of his character and integrity, he chose as his life's vocation to serve our country. We as a nation mourn with you and the families of the other seven fallen heroes who lost their life doing the work of our nation.
"Unfortunately, many of us take your work for granted but this tragedy reminds us of the daily sacrifice in service so many dedicated men and women who so honorably serve our nation do. You are all truly amazing, thank you."
Galliher had entered the Air Force after high school and graduated from the Cryptologic Language Analyst course. He was an honor graduate of the Defense Language Institute's Chinese Language Course and was fluent in Mandarin.
The Taconic High School graduate was welcomed home on Friday with a police escort from Westover Air Base and a procession that included local officials and the Dalton American Legion Riders to Dwyer Funeral Home.
Hundreds of people lined North Street with flags or waited for the procession to drive by Taconic High.
On Wednesday, State Police, mounted deputies from the Berkshire County Sheriff's Department and Patriot Guard Riders holding American flags stood outside the church.
"We do it for the family," said Mark Strait, assistant state captain for the Patriot Guard. "We do it for the comfort, to offer a level of comfort for the family. ... The feedback we get from the families is always, 'Oh, it was so nice that you were there and made us feel so much better. ...
"I think it's a unifying kind of a thing. In a country that is having trouble being unified, by supporting our military and supporting veterans, that helps that."
Attendees included members and officers of Galliher's unit, the Japanese consul, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, state Sen. Paul Mark, Sheriff Thomas Bowler, state Reps. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, Tricia Farley-Bouvier and John Barrett III, his Taconic football teammates, firefighters, police and other local leaders and representatives from veterans organizations. Gov. Maura Healey had met with the family at Westover on Friday.
"We're hear to honor the memory of Jake Galliher and to be here with his family, with his friends," said Warren, the state's senior senator. "This is a moment to celebrate his life and be with everyone who mourns his loss."
"Jake is an American hero. He will be remembered forever," said Markey. "In the Berkshires he'll be remembered for the sacrifice to protect us."
Neal said the tragedy was a reminder of the nation's 2 million men and women who serve in uniform around the world.
"We're reminded just how great the Berkshires are," he said. "His teammates, his classmates from Taconic High School as well as his family, they chose to honor his memory back here in the Berkshires."
Galliher had been assigned to the 363rd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing's 43rd Intelligence Squadron at Yokota Air Force Base.
Col. John Thorne, commander of 363rd, described Galliher as in the "top 1 percent" who speak multiple languages and can embed with special operations.
"Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of what we do on a daily basis to keep America safe never gets published or acknowledged," Thorne said at the wake, adding that words may be small comfort but he wanted to expound upon the two most recent decorations that Galliher had earned: the Air & Space Commendation Medal for training and instructing others in cryptology and signals over 18 months including at the Air Force Weapons School, and the Air Medal for his meritorious accomplishments during the joint training exercise that cost him his life.
"These words highlight his accomplishments over the last year and half but they don't do justice to the day-to-day operations and the effect he had on all of us mentoring his senior leaders, mentoring his peers and mentoring his subordinates to make us all better."
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made payable to Jon Galliher for the benefit of Jacob's wife and children. They may be mailed to Dery Funeral Home, 54 Bradford St., Pittsfield, MA 01201.
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