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Young widow eulogizes soldier husband in Dalton

Submitted by WNYT Staff
Sunday, May 26th, 2013, 12:56am

DALTON, MA.--Memorial Day has new meaning for the people in Berkshire County.  Especially the family of Army Specialist Mitchell Daehling.

"We start this weekend with a painful reminder that those who serve put everything up for this," said Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) through tears following the service.

A funeral with full military honors for the 24 year old Wahconah High School graduate killed in an explosion in Afghanistan on May 14th.  Daehling's service to country will be remembered but it is Mitchell, the person, who will be missed the most.

"It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.  I've lost family members but he was a brother, more than anything," says Gil Tolley, Daehling's college roommate.

The outpouring of respect for the fallen soldier was moving.

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Dog credited with saving Pittsfield man from fire

Submitted by WNYT Staff
Friday, May 24th, 2013, 12:18pm
Fire destroyed a home on Daniels Avenue in Pittsfield. - Rich Frederick / WNYT

PITTSFIELD, Mass. - A dog most likely saved a man's life when a fire broke out Friday morning in Pittsfield, Berkshire County.

Police say a dog woke up Ed Jones as his home on Daniels Avenue was on fire around 3 a.m.

Jones and his dog got out safely. Two cats did not make it out.

Police say the cause of the fire at this time appears to be electrical.

Two firefighters were injured while battling the blaze. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

The house was destroyed. The estimated damage to the home is about $100,000.

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Dalton soldier killed in Afghanistan remembered

Submitted by WNYT Staff
Friday, May 24th, 2013, 12:17pm
U.S. Army Spc. Mitchell Daehling was killed in Afghanistan. - Abigail Bleck / WNYT

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - Family and friends are paying final respects to a soldier from Berkshire County killed in Afghanistan.
    
A funeral Mass with full military honors for U.S. Army Spc. Mitchell Daehling was celebrated Friday at St. Agnes Church in Dalton. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously.
    
Daehling was killed by an improvised explosive device May 14.
    
The Dalton resident grew up in Wyoming and Idaho before moving to Massachusetts. He was a graduate of Wahconah Regional High School.
    
Per his wishes, he will be buried next to his grandfather in Idaho. Kenneth Sander served in the Army during the Korean War.
    
Daehling leaves behind a wife whom he married less than a year ago, his parents and two siblings.

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Berkshire County residents line streets to honor fallen soldier

Submitted by WNYT Staff
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013, 5:30pm

DALTON, Ma.--The rain began falling in Berkshire County on Thursday at almost the exact same time that MItchell Daehling's flag-draped coffin was transported for his calling hours and funeral.

"This young man gave up his life for us--so we could have freedom," said Sandy Robillard, a Cheshire woman with two step-sons in the military, who waited, waving a flag, for the procession to pass in Pittsfield.

The Army Specialist and 2006 Wahconah Regional High School graduate died May 14, serving his country in Afghanistan.  He was one of four troops killed when an improvised explosive device detonated in Kandahar.

Mourners lined the streets Thursday in Berkshire County as the procession passed, by the hundreds, to pay their final respects.

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Calling hours to be held for Dalton soldier

Submitted by WNYT Staff
Thursday, May 23rd, 2013, 2:10pm

DALTON - A soldier from Dalton, Mass. killed in Afghanistan is being remembered Thursday.

The body of US Army Specialist Mitchell Daehling was brought to a Pittsfield funeral home Wednesday.

The 2006 Wahconah Regional High School graduate was killed in action last week.

Calling hours are from four to seven p-m today.

Funeral services with full military honors for Specialist Daehling are tomorrow at 11a.m. at Saint Agnes Church.

Daehling will be buried in Idaho next to his grandfather. 

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Soldier's body returns to Berkshire County

Submitted by WNYT Staff
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013, 12:43pm

DALTON, Mass. - The body of a soldier killed in Afghanistan is back home.

The remains of Army Spc. Mitchell Daehling arrived in Dalton, Berkshire County late Wednesday morning under military escort.

Daehling was killed last week. 

Calling hours for will be Thursday night at St. Agnes Church in Dalton.

A funeral mass will be celebrated there Friday morning.

Daehling will be awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

He will be buried in Lewiston, Idaho next to his grandfather. That was his final wish.

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Tornado warning taken seriously in Berkshires

Submitted by WNYT Staff
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013, 8:46am
The dark sky reminded people of a tornado that touched down in the area, back in May, 1995. -

GREAT BARRINGTON - Once a tornado warning was posted in Berkshire County late Tuesday, people there began hunkering down, not just because of the recent deadly storm in the nation's midsection, but also because of what happened in their own community less than a generation ago.

It's known as the Memorial Day Tornado of 1995; a powerful F4 twister that left three people in the Berkshires dead, and caused $24 million in damage.

"I just remember when I was a kid, the tornado that went through Great Barrington, so I was afraid that would happen again," said Laura Smith, who was at home Tuesday afternoon when he phone rang. "We were supposed to get into the basement because the town called and said that that's what we were supposed to do."

Smith says her family was following the storm's radar track at home and knew that anything serious had bypassed them. But not everyone knew what Laura knew.

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