“There’s a hole in Somerville that is also felt in the rest of the state,” American Legion Kennebec County Honor Guard member George Bean said June 4.
Bean was speaking at a break in a meeting of the Somerville Fire Department and was referring to the death of Army Sgt. Tom Dostie and the loss that meant to his family and community.
Dostie was one of 22 members of the military who died Dec. 21, 2004 when a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device in a dining hall in Mosul, Iraq. He was 20 years old.
Before a group of witnesses that included Rep Deb Sanderson, R-Chelsea, and Legion members from Litchfield, Sidney and Augusta, Bean presented Gold Star banners to Dostie’s brother Tim and his parents, Peggy and Michael. With a quavering voice, Bean read a letter from Maine First Lady Ann LePage, who called the Gold Star banner “a symbol of the dedication and love of families.”
“I can only imagine the stress of having a loved one go on such dangerous missions,” LePage wrote.
Past State Legion Commander and Alternate National Committeeman Paul L’Heureux presented a plaque to the family, reading from the poem it contained that described the honor of being a Blue Star parent – the parent of an active duty soldier – and the loss of that soldier’s death that is signified by a Gold Star.
“When a knock on the door shattered her life…the blue star turned to gold,” he read.
“Every one of us here is grateful for the courage that your son had,” Sanderson said. She said it was a sign of Somerville’s strength as a community that so many townspeople were present. “We band together when things happen,” she said.
