Published: July 01, 2009 06:26 pm      

Funeral held Wednesday in Calhoun for fallen soldier

Servant. Leader. Passionate.

Those were the themes of 1st Sgt. John Blair’s funeral Wednesday at Trinity Baptist Church in Calhoun. Hundreds of family, friends, soldiers, airmen, deputies and law enforcement filled the sanctuary, balcony and lobby to pay homage to a man described as passionate about his family, his friends and his country.

Blair, who was killed in Afghanistan on June 20, was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart at the service.

“He believed in leading by example, leading from the front and that’s how he died,” said Therrell Goswick, former Calhoun police chief and a retired command sergeant major. His voice broke as he called Blair his “adopted son” and spoke about his work with the Georgia Army National Guard’s Counter Drug Unit.

Goswick said Blair, who enlisted in the Kentucky Army National Guard in 1989 and later transferred to the Georgia Army National Guard, “had a yearning to lead troops” and the highly decorated soldier and former Gordon County sheriff’s deputy “had one speed — wide open — and one direction — straight ahead.”

“He was a true American hero, a self-made American hero. God must have had a pretty serious mission to need him,” he said.

Maj. Gen. William T. Nesbitt, adjutant general for Georgia, who had worked with Blair before a trip to Iraq last year, recalled him as a “soldier’s soldier.” He said Blair’s death hit especially close to home as he’d known Blair’s wife, Donna, for years. He also read a statement from Matt Smith, Blair’s commander in Afghanistan: “He was the real deal, practiced tough love and was respected because of it.”

Blair was killed when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his vehicle.

“He died with his finger on the trigger,” Nesbitt said.

Detective Shane Parrott said that Blair became a mentor and teacher when he started at the Gordon County Sheriff’s Office and through the years they became close friends.

“You look at the program and you see generals and leaders. I’m none of those things, but I was his friend and he loved me,” Parrott said.

During his emotional eulogy, Parrott said that Blair asked him to do two things if anything happened to him — to do his funeral and to take care of his family.

“I’m doing the best I can,” he said. “I learned to appreciate my family from him.”

“If there are more soldiers like John Blair, we’re going to be OK. I’ve met some of them and I know, we are going to OK,” he said.

The funeral procession went through downtown Calhoun where a giant American flag hung between two fire trucks in front of the courthouse. People lined the street, hands over hearts, as the mile-plus long processional went by. Blair was scheduled to be interned at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton.