FREETOWN — The gymnasium of the Freetown Elementary School was named Tuesday for fallen sailor Tyler J. Trahan a 22-year-old Navy petty officer who died in Iraq on April 30.

For his family the occasion was bittersweet. They shed tears of both grief for their loss and joy for their son’s courage and dedication.

“I think it’s fantastic. I’m overwhelmed by it” said Tyler’s father Jean Pierre Trahan.

Tyler Trahan was fighting in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a member of the Navy Seals Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit in Fallujah Iraq. He was one of three soldiers killed when a bomb they were disarming exploded. Tyler’s body was returned home on May 9 a day before Mother’s Day. He was buried at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne.

It was fitting that the gymnasium be named for Tyler his father said because he was very athletic and was a quarterback in high school.

A large traveling display of portraits by Gina Johnson was set up in the gym. It depicted 126 Massachusetts soldiers who have died fighting in Iraq. Trahan’s portrait was at the top.
“Throughout our lives we never forget the sacrifices these men and women have made” said Freetown Elementary School Principal Robert L. Frizelle.

He told Trahan’s parents that while the ceremony would never bring back their son “This community will never forget.”

Tyler’s mother Maureen Trahan smiled to the crowd of children — all dressed in red white and blue — soldiers family school teachers and officials. She spoke of celebrating her son’s memory the lessons he learned as a student at the school his hard work and dedication and his ultimate sacrifice for his country.

“The foundation of your life will begin here” Maureen Trahan told the children. “You can make a difference.

“Life is not a matter of counting the years but making the years count” she said. “God bless each and every one of you and God bless us in the U.S.A.”

E-mail Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com