Army Spc. Jeremy F. Regnier

Died October 13, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Littleton, N.H.; assigned to the 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed Oct. 13 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol in Baghdad.

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Littleton soldier killed in Baghdad

By Erik Stetson

Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. — Spc. Jeremy Regnier, 22, a Bradley fighting vehicle gunner with the 1st Cavalry Regiment was killed when his armored vehicle drove over an improvised bomb in Iraq.

Regnier, who hoped to become a helicopter mechanic and spend a career in the Army, died Wednesday morning while on a patrol outside Baghdad, his father, Kevin Regnier, told the Caledonian-Record of St. Johnsbury, Vt.

“We still can’t believe it,” his aunt, Sherry Velozo, told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We’re all still trying to wake up and hope it’s a nightmare. We know it isn’t, but it’s just a very hard thing. He was such a young person.”

Military officials notified the family Wednesday morning. About a dozen relatives were mourning his death in Littleton on Thursday. Velozo, who lives in Agawam, Mass., said Regnier called home weekly — for the last time Saturday — and celebrated his birthday in Littleton in August while home on a two-week leave.

Regnier joined the military in 2000, serving about six months in the New Hampshire Army National Guard before choosing to switch to active duty. He served a tour in Korea before going to Iraq. Relatives said his first deployment changed him.

“He grew up a lot,” Velozo said. “When he went in, and when he came back from South Korea, he was a different person.”

In Iraq, he was with Bravo Company of the 1st Cavalry Regiment, which is based at Fort Hood, Texas, according to Sgt. 1st Class Mike Daigle, a New Hampshire Guard spokesman.

Family members said he hoped to make a good life for himself in the Army. He had dropped out of Littleton High School after the 11th grade, but earned an equivalency diploma while working manufacturing jobs.

“He didn’t want to end up on Main Street,” another aunt, Judy Ash, told the Caledonian-Record. “He wanted to better himself.”

The family moved to Littleton from Agawam, Mass., about seven years ago. His parents said they wanted to raise Jeremy and his sister Amanda, 17, in a more secure environment.

His father, who declined to be interviewed Thursday, told the paper he owned and ran R&L Siding and Remodeling in Agawam and later became an assistant projects manager there for Six Flags New England, an amusement park. He said his son worked for his contracting business, not always smoothly.

“When we worked together it was cats and dogs,” he said. “We’re both stubborn.”

But he said he shared a tight bond with his son. When his son asked him to go deer hunting once and he said he couldn’t because he didn’t have a rifle, his son bought him one, Kevin Regnier said.

“He’d give you the shirt off his back,” he said. “He’d do anything for anybody.”

Velozo said Kevin Regnier supported his son’s decision to join the military, but didn’t actively encourage his son to re-enlist.

“Right now he’s blaming himself,” she said.

Jeremy Regnier always told his family not to worry, relatives said. Generations of his family have safely returned from wars, including great-grandfather Wilfred Regnier from World War I, grandfather Edgar Regnier and great-uncle Richard Regnier from World War II, and his father from Grenada, they said.

The Caledonian-Record said Jeremy once told his family: “Every Regnier that goes to war comes back. I know I’ll be back.”

He had a skull wearing an Army helmet tattooed on one arm as a sign of his commitment to the military. He did not have a wife or children, but is survived by his brother, Nicholas Regnier, 25, along with his sister.

Velozo said relatives planned a service in Littleton, but were still making arrangements. She said Jeremy Regnier had hoped to have some of his ashes scattered on Mount Washington, something relatives weren’t sure would be permitted.