Monday Rockland buried Army Specialist Matthew Pollini, their native son.
Rockland pulls together to honor, bury fallen soldier
A bagpipe player led a winding procession past hundreds of mourners standing on Union Street's sidewalks yesterday morning, his tune echoing off storefronts, town offices, and homes.
Some of the mourners cried as the white, horse-drawn caisson carrying the body of Massachusetts National Guard Specialist Matthew Pollini passed by. Members of the military stood at attention, and veterans offered a salute. Schoolchildren waved small US flags.
Rockland hero Matthew Pollini laid to rest
Rockland mourned Army Spc. Matthew Pollini yesterday as nearly 1,000 people gathered to pay their respects to the husband, son and hero.
Pollini, 21, died near al-Kut, Iraq, Jan. 22 after the vehicle he was in rolled over. He was a recent newlywed, having married his 20-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Cochran, only one month earlier.
Photographer Stephanie C Olsen has a truly lovely, if heartbreaking montage set to music on her website.
I believe it was put together at the behest of the funeral home Magoun-Biggins which did a first rate job co-ordinating this event with all the groups involved. I can't imagine what it takes to pull such diverse groups and agencies together and produce the fitting tribute documented in these photographs.
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