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Posted by: USMCMP5811

Honor bound
By Heather McCarron/Daily News staff
Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - Updated: 01:05 AM EDT




NORFOLK - As a youngster growing up in Norfolk, Adam Kennedy could not have been prouder to slip into his Boy Scout uniform. "He loved the uniform, even when he was a Cub Scout," said David Kennedy on Monday,recalling his son, a 25-year-old Army sergeant in an airborne brigade of the 25th Infantry Division, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq over the weekend.
Indeed, Adam Kennedy smiles proudly in an old photo of him in his blue Scout uniform with its yellow kerchief perfectly knotted at his collar. Badges and other accoutrements of a committed Scout adorn the uniform.
The photo also reflects another aspect of the late soldier's personality: A spark of impish mischievousness.
"He was both a serious leader and a big goof-off. He had a tremendous sense of humor," said his dad, talking on the phone from the family's Norfolk home - a momentary light tone sneaking into his otherwise subdued voice.
Adam Kennedy also had a strong sense of honor that could put him at odds with a fun-loving, humorous bent, said David Kennedy, speaking for the family. He said his son, a 2000 graduate of Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, "would do things that weren't in his best interest because of his sense of honor."
"If there was something goofy that he had done, he'd have to confess, because it was the honorable thing to do," he said. Fatherly pride etched David Kennedy's words.
It was that kind of honor that would later make Adam Kennedy, who as a youth played in the Norfolk Youth Baseball League, an outstanding Army cadet and soldier.
An honor student at Xaverian, as well as a member of the football, wrestling and track teams, Kennedy went on to enroll and distinguish himself in the Corps of Cadets at Norwich University, a private military college in Vermont.
"He was immediately on the honor committee in the Corps of Cadets at Norwich," said David Kennedy, adding his son "continued that sense of right from wrong when he went into the Army."
Adam Kennedy was selected as a distinguished honor graduate in his boot-camp class, "meaning he was the best soldier out of the 270 students in that class," said David Kennedy.
The soldier's commitment and honor were also the reason why "when he got to Alaska at Ft. Richardson, they immediately grabbed him and put him in this brigade. For almost two years he served as the aide-de-camp for the colonel, even though he was just a specialist," David Kennedy said.
Kennedy enlisted in the Army in August 2004 and had been in Iraq since last October. He was killed during a special mission over the weekend. Sgt. Kennedy was stationed out of Forward Operating Base Kalsu, 25 miles southeast of Baghdad - a hot zone, said David Kennedy.
"The anxiety has been very high," he said.
He noted that his son had survived four other bombings since arriving in Iraq, and the sergeant knew how serious his position was as a member of a team charged with security for their commanding colonel. It was a dangerous assignment that took its toll on the brigade.
"The brigade has lost 28 members since October," he said.
David Kennedy and his wife, Nancy Smyth, received the news of their son's death on Easter after military personnel tracked them down at one of Smyth's relatives' homes in Dorchester.
"It was good in one way that Nancy had her family around her," David Kennedy said.
He said he spoke with his son last Thursday, and knew he was about to embark on a heavy mission.
"I got that he was going on some kind of a mission he couldn't really tell me about. But the sense I got was that it was an offensive mission. He was pleased about that. He was going to go after somebody instead of just being a target," David Kennedy said. "He was a little bit more upbeat than he had been in more recent conversations."
His son, said David Kennedy, seemed destined for the military life, having been attracted to uniforms and the service since he was a kid.
"Always, it was his thing," he said. "His friends all had these pictures of him doing quasi military-type things (as a kid). It's what he always wanted. Adam was committed. He was planning to stay (in the Army) for another six years."
Norfolk Veterans Services Officer Anthony Mastroianni is working with the family on making arrangements for Kennedy's burial.
"We're working with the Department of the Army, and we're trying to touch base and get that squared away," he said.
It is uncertain when Kennedy's body will be returned to the United States or when funeral services will take place. Plans call for holding services at St. Jude's Church in Norfolk.
"The last the Army was able to tell us is it could be seven days before the body arrives," said David Kennedy. "We're just waiting."






http://www.milforddailynews.com/homepage/x1022900585


Rest In Peace Sgt Kennedy.

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Posted by: justanotherparatrooper

Rest in peace brother

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Posted by: redpara

.....Hell of a way to die.... RIP Airborne!

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Posted by: USMCMP5811

Soldier's funeral will be Tuesday
By Heather McCarron/Daily News staff
Friday, April 13, 2007 - Updated: 11:21 PM EDT


NORFOLK A funeral with full military honors is planned for Sgt. Adam Kennedy on Tuesday, at 10 a.m., at St. Jude's Church in Norfolk, where the soldier grew up. Kennedy, 25, a member of an airborne brigade of the Army's 25th Infantry Division, was killed in a bombing last Sunday while on a mission near Biwaniyah, Iraq.
Dignitaries including Gov. Duval Patrick, U.S. Sens. Ted Kennedy and John Kerry are expected to attend the service, according to Linda Jeleniewski, of the U.S. Army Reserves 94th, which is assisting with the planning.
"It was my understanding they are going to be there," she said.
She said the funeral is expected to draw hundreds of mourners.
"The family, when we met, they wanted a place big enough to hold 500 if they had to. I'm figuring it's going to be very large," Jeleniewski said.
Plans call for a funeral procession from the church to Knollwood Memorial Park in Canton that will include a riderless horse following a caisson holding Kennedy's casket a traditional military practice; the riderless horse will have boots strapped backwards into the stirrups.
"It's like they did for President Kennedy when he died," Jeleniewski explained.
"It's going to be quite a big deal," said Anthony Mastroianni, who is Norfolk's veterans service officer.
Born in Newton, the son of J. David and Nancy A. (Smyth) Kennedy of Norfolk, Sgt. Kennedy was a lifelong resident of Norfolk, and graduated from Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood where he was an honor roll student and a member of the football, wrestling and track teams.
After graduating in 2000, he enrolled in the Corps of Cadets at Norwich University in Vermont, graduating in 2004. After his graduation, he joined the Army and became the "Distinguished Honor" graduate of his boot camp class, for his discipline and leadership skills. He was a member of the Army's Fourth Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, based out of Alaska before being deployed to Iraq in October.
Besides his parents, he leaves his siblings, John D. Kennedy and his wife, Kori, of Nashua, N.H.; Jane Kennedy of Winthrop, Maureen Daley and her husband, John, of Roslindale; and Colin M. Kennedy of Norfolk; his niece and nephews, Eric Daley and Dean and Aren Kennedy; and many aunts, uncles and cousins.
Visiting hours will be Sunday, April 15, from 7 to 9 p.m., and Monday, April 16, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m., at St. Jude's Church, 86 Main St., Norfolk.
Instead of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Sgt. Adam P. Kennedy Scholarship Fund, PO Box 100, Norfolk, MA 02056.


http://www.milforddailynews.com/local_news/x1621319564

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Posted by: Delta784

RIP, brother.

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Posted by: JoninNH

Rest in Peace, brother.

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