SWAMPSCOTT - Selectmen voted unanimously last night to name the intersection of Burrill and Essex streets Specialist Jared J. Raymond Square, honoring the U.S. Army "tanker" killed in Iraq last month.
"He was my hero," said his mother, Jaclyn Raymond, after the meeting. "And now he's everybody's hero."
Raymond was buried at Swampscott Cemetery last Thursday in a funeral attended by thousands, including hundreds of students from Swampscott and Lynn, residents, town officials and Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey.
"It doesn't surprise me," Jaclyn Raymond said. "It's wonderful. The town is unbelievable. It's a small community. And I knew they would pull together. ... I'm so proud."
Raymond sat grim-faced while the board handled routine business. Alongside, offering support, was Jared's grandmother Agnes Raymond. Veterans' Agent Jim Schultz also gave Jaclyn an emotional embrace.
Jaclyn made it clear that she's had a difficult time adjusting to the death of her only child.
"I'm doing. Jared is keeping me going. ... I'm trying to get back to normal as much as possible."
Accordingly, she's already returned to work as a secretary at Lynn Technical High School.
It's helped, she said, that so many people have reached out to her. "The mail I'm getting - and from people I don't even know."
Among those making contact, the Piper family of neighboring Marblehead. Green Beret Staff Sgt. Chris Piper, killed in Afghanistan more than a year ago, was buried in his hometown June 2005. Messages have arrived from others who have suffered losses in the war, as well as from people overseas.
Delighted with the decision to place the street sign so close to her home, Raymond said, "I can see it out my kitchen window."
Raymond praised Schultz, who organized the funeral and first proposed naming the square.
"This guy," she said, "he's my guardian angel."
Board Chairman Marc Paster told Schultz, "I don't think we can say enough for the job you did for Jared Raymond, Jim."
Member Reid Cassidy recalled remarks at the funeral, "As Father (Robert) Reed said, 'Jared is a hero.'"
"He's not the only one who is a hero," said Adam Forman, calling attention to the Raymond family and to all those families with loved ones serving their country during wartime. "You are also heroes."
Member Daniel Santanello told Jaclyn, "It's not only the town. It's the entire nation thanking you."
