Maine guardsman laid to rest

STRONG – A Maine soldier killed in Iraq was laid to rest Tuesday following a service at the high school he attended.

Flags were at half-staff across the state to honor Maine Army National Guard Sgt. Richard Parker of Phillips, who was remembered at Mount Abram High School as a soldier who loved his family and his country.

A military chaplain read a letter from his mother, Dixie Flagg of Avon, in which she described how her 26-year-old son would call and ask about baking recipes, using it as an excuse to talk.

“Every day for the rest of our lives, Richard will be in our hearts, our prayers and our memories,” she wrote. “We love you son.”

Parker, a member of the 152nd Field Artillery Regiment, died a day after being injured by a roadside blast on June 13 in Scania, Iraq. He left behind a 5-month-old son whom he never saw, as well as his fianc?e, Ashley Smith, family members said.

Maine National Guard Sgt. Major Greg Small thanked Parker’s family for their sacrifice. “He was an outstanding young man, an outstanding soldier, a guy who loved his country and loved what he was doing,” Small told WCSH-TV.

The 152nd Field Artillery Regiment, which has been working to protect convoys and secure roads along the north-to-south supply routes in Iraq, is due to return in late July.

Gov. John Baldacci left a meeting of New England governors and eastern Canadian premiers on Prince Edward Island to attend the services for Parker.

“The worst loss a parent can suffer is the loss of their child. I think the only thing you can do is let them know that you feel for them, that you’re thinking of them, and that your state stands as an extended family there to support them,” he said.