Maine soldier’s body brought back to Lincoln

LINCOLN – Jennifer Green shivered as she held the flagpole close to her body. It was about 20 degrees on Main Street on Thursday and the wind, light but steady, made it seem much colder.

It wasn’t wise for the 39-year-old Army veteran of the Gulf War of the 1990s to be braving the weather. Suffering from nerve- and lower-leg damage and post-traumatic stress disorder, the town resident is 100 percent disabled, but she said she felt honor-bound to be there.

“Soldiers support soldiers,” Green said.

Green was among about 125 people who lined West Broadway and Main Street to pay their respects to U.S. Army Sgt. Blair William Emery. A Lee native, Emery, 24, was killed Nov. 30 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baqoubah, Iraq.

Emery’s funeral service will be at noon today at the gymnasium at Lee Academy, which Emery attended. Gov. John Baldacci ordered that the United States flag and the state of Maine flag be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset today to honor Emery.

Emery is one of two soldiers born and raised in Lee who have been killed in Iraq. Sgt. Joel A. House was killed June 23 by an IED in Taji, Iraq. House and Emery were lifelong friends, though not close, who played sports and attended school together.

Led by Lincoln Police Chief Bill Flagg, a motorcade of firetrucks from Lee and Lincoln, a Penobscot Valley Hospital ambulance, state police and Penobscot County sheriffs and town police met the hearse carrying Emery’s body at the Lincoln-Chester line and escorted it to Clay Funeral Home.

Members of Lincoln, Howland and Lee’s American Legion chapters, Marine Corps leagues and other American veterans groups snapped to attention and saluted as the hearse passed them.

Family members met the body at Bangor International Airport at about 1 p.m. Thursday. Carl Thompson of Ketchikan, Alaska, one of Blair’s uncles, was moved to tears when he saw the motorcade and the people lining the streets.

“This community can be proud of its people as well as the people that serve,” Thompson said. “I just know that everywhere we looked there were people waving flags, people standing with their hands over their hearts, or pulling their cars over to wave. It just shows what this community is made out of – real Americans.”

“The support from the towns has been unbelievable,” said another of Blair’s uncles, Chris Thompson of Funny River, Alaska.

In lieu of flowers, family members ask that donations be made to a scholarship in Emery’s memory at Lee Academy.

Nick Sambides Jr. may be reached at nsambides@bangordailynews.net or 794-8215.