Tribute train visits North Shore, honoring fallen heroes

LYNN – Raymond Harris leaned down on the railroad tracks and patted the golden star inscribed with his late daughter’s name. He sighed, blinking away tears, then turned around to pose next to it for family members holding cameras.”It hasn’t changed. It doesn’t get any better,” he said with a hoarse voice after the cameras flashed.Harris’ daughter, Marine Capt. Jennifer Harris, was killed in Iraq in 2007. Five years later, a train bearing her name alongside every other name of Massachusetts service members who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan rolled into the Lynn Commuter Rail station on Saturday morning, a tribute to their ultimate sacrifice and a somber reminder of the cost of freedom.View a photo gallery.The final passenger coach of the commuter train is painted in red, white and blue, with the names of Jennifer Harris and her fallen comrades emblazoned on golden stars. Those who died in Iraq are one side, those who died in Afghanistan on the other, and a plaque inside the train honors 23 service members who died while supporting America’s troops.It is the first memorial train of its kind in the country, said Hugh Kiley Jr., the manager of Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, which manages the train.MBCR unveiled the train on Memorial Day, and it has since traveled 630 miles through Massachusetts and Rhode Island, making stops in communities like Lynn.”It’s a tribute for those who gave their lives, but it’s very nice to see their family members here. It’s a tribute to them,” he said.Not far from Jennifer Harris’ star was another bearing Army Spc. Jared Raymond’s name. The Swampscott native died in 2007 in Iraq.His mother, Jackie Raymond, said the statewide tribute to her son is an honor.”My son’s a hero. A true hero,” she said. “He gave his life for his country, he was so proud, so proud of what he was. It’s emotional, just seeing it all. It’s ?,” she broke off for a moment, staring at his star. “Wow. That’s my boy right there.”The golden stars that spread the length of an entire passenger coach several times over served as a tangible reminder that Massachusetts has paid a steep price fighting two recent wars, she said.”You don’t realize until you see it how many soldiers were killed from Massachusetts,” she said.Nahant couple Anna and Ed Manzano, who served in the Army during the Vietnam era, felt the same way as they viewed the train.”We’re really surprised to find there’s four people on there that we know,” Anna Manzano said.She teared up remembering some of their stories, such as a Norwich University classmate of their son’s who was killed two weeks before his wife gave birth to their child.”It just brings it back, the loss of a young life,” she said.Her husband shook his head as he looked at the train.”There are too many names,” he said. “I really felt like it would stop with Vietnam, but there are just too many names, too many places we hoped wouldn’t happen.”Raymond, who used to take the train with her son to Rockport every weekend, said she hopes passengers who board this train over the next few months will take a moment to remember the state’s fallen soldiers.”I sometimes feel that people forget, but events like this, it just shows me that the people still do care,” she said.Kiley said the train will be in regular service over the next eight months traveling up and down Massachusetts and Rhode Island.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].