Sgt. Robert J. Barrett touched the lives of many

The casket containing the body of Sergeant Robert J. Barrett, who was killed in Afghanistan, was carried by an honor guard into the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Fall River. (Photos By Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff)

Guardsman touched the lives of many
Barrett is called devoted to his family, country

By Jeannie Nuss
Globe Correspondent / May 2, 2010

FALL RIVER — Sophia Barrett, yellow ribbon in her hair, black ribbon on her sweater, cried at her father’s funeral yesterday when a priest waved incense over the flag-draped coffin, when a uniformed officer wiped away tears, and when her great-uncle read aloud a letter her father wrote.

The 2-year-old cried until a comforting hand showed her a photo of her father, Sergeant Robert J. Barrett.

“My dad,’’ she whispered and pointed to the casket at the front of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in Fall River.

Barrett, a 20-year-old member of the Massachusetts Army National Guard’s 101st Field Artillery Regiment, was killed in a suicide bombing on April 19 in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was training new recruits for the Afghan National Army.

Sophia was her father’s pride and joy, said friends and fellow service members. Since Barrett deployed to Afghanistan in January, he calmed her restless nights on the phone and online.
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Guardsman touched the lives of many