Staff Sergeant Jacob Galliher died when the V-22 Osprey he and seven other airmen were flying in crashed during a training mission on November 29th. After a wake Tuesday, his funeral services were carried out at St. Agnes Catholic Community.
“We gather this morning with disappointment that we will never see him reach the fullest of his potential. We gather with anger and losing someone so young, we gather with grateful hearts for the service and sacrifice, and we gather not knowing how we can ever deal with such pain," said Father Christopher Malatesta, who delivered the homily. “Most people in our community will remember him from growing up in this area as a bright-eyed, good-looking youth that was popular, smart, and excelled in sports. A natural born leader, and good and loyal friend. The people of our nation in the world will remember him as a hero that gave his life in our service. He was much more than a soldier. He was a husband and a dad that had so many plans for a bright future. He was a brother and a son that made his family so proud. He was a teammate and comrade to those that he served with, and a friend to so many.”
A Pittsfield native and Taconic High School graduate, the 24-year-old leaves behind a wife and two young children.
“No young wife, children or parents should ever have to say goodbye to someone so young,” continued Malatesta.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Ed Markey, Congressman Richard Neal, and Consul General Kotaro Suzuki from Japan were in attendance.
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey has a long history of deadly crashes. During testing between 1991 and 2000, four crashes led to 30 fatalities. In 2000, 23 Marines died in two crashes during a training exercise in Arizona. Following November’s crash, Japan has suspended operations of the tiltrotor aircraft. The construction of a single V-22 Osprey costs the American taxpayer almost $90 million.
The Air Force announced this month that Galliher had posthumously received the Air and Space Commendation Medal for meritorious service.
The announcement detailed Galliher’s record:
“He led the way in enhancing his unit's intelligence tradecraft, instructing over thirty airborne intelligence operators on advanced signals training, increasing proficiency in this critical skill set for mission modernization. Additionally, Sergeant Galliher drove the unit's cryptologic language analyst proficiency program, qualifying thirty-five members on critical target languages, resulting in the squadron earning the wing's 2022 Cryptologic Language Program of the Year. Finally, he instructed advanced adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures at the United States Air Force Weapons School, priming aircrew, intelligence professionals, and future weapons officers across twenty air assets for future global operations.”
Galliher also received commendation from Lt. General Tony Bauernfeind, Commander of Air Force Special Operations Command:
“His actions allowed special operations and conventional forces agile combat training opportunities to advance power projection tactics, techniques, and procedures critical to the nation’s Pacific theater objectives.”
Bauernfeind described the training exercise Galliher died in as “the largest and most complex iteration of a joint training exercise with partners from Special Operations Command Pacific, 353rd Special Operations Wing, and Carrier Strike Group One.”
The Galliher family issued its own statement, saying their hearts were filled with love and loss as they honored Jacob:
“We are beyond grateful for the outpouring of support from those who loved Jake most, from throughout the Berkshires, from his Air Force and military family, from across Massachusetts and from around the world. Your love and support have brought us tremendous comfort, strength and solace during these unbearably difficult times. Jake’s life was a blessing and his memory a treasure. The way he has been honored since his tragic loss means so much to his family and we know will help his young children better understand the lasting impact their Dad had on everyone he met. We will love and honor Jacob, always.”
The funeral was followed by a private interment ceremony.
