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I knew Jeremie in high school and we lost touch shortly after graduation because he went to college and I joined the Marines. I attended his funeral this past Sept and it was probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Hundreds of people who didn't even know him showed up to pay their respects and several hundred more lined the streets to honor him. For nearly 10 miles, every over pass was blocked off and had local firemen hanging flags and saluting. There are a couple YouTube videos out there to show you want I mean (search Jeremie Border and see).
There is one video on YouTube that someone shot with a cell phone of some civilian trying to sneak past a road block because he didn't want to wait. A local vet jumped out and blocked the car yelling at the driver to show some respect.
I've wanted to do something more with my military life badly for a while (recon, Marsoc, force recon) and I always made some excuse. I can honestly say that Jeremie's passing was the final giant shove for me to stop making excuses and do it. Since then I've been training hard and will continue to train the the best of of ability to honor men like him. If I fail it will be because I've broken every bone in my body.
He wasn't the strongest or most athletic guy in the world but he had that spark of genuine selfless character and drive to give everything to accomplish his goals.
FYI: A couple days before his death, our high school class was getting ready for our 10 year reunion and was struggling to sell the needed number of tickets to cover the cost of the hotel, food, etc. Jeremie knew that he wouldn't be able to attend due to his current deployment so he bought 3 tickets ($50 each) anyway and told the guy organizing the event to give them to whomever couldn't afford them.
^^^ 100% textbook definition of a stand up guy.
Rest easy Jeremie
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