Chicopee honors one of its own

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE One of Chicopee's favorite sons came home last week to a unique honor and community acclaim.

Lt. General David Valcourt was honored on Thursday with the dedication of his portrait in the main branch of the Chicopee Public Library. It will be hung next to two other Chicopee natives who rose through the military ranks to command positions: Brigadier General John Stefanik and Rear Admiral Frances Shea Buckley.

Over 100 people, including Valcourt's family, friends, elected officials, students and members of his Boy Scout Troop, filled the community room at the library.

Valcourt is currently the commander of the Eighth Army in South Korea. Born and raised in Chicopee, he attended St. Joan of Arc-St. George School and then graduated from Cathedral High School in Springfield. He graduated from West Point in 1973 and has made the Army his career since then.

Alderman Chuck Swider, a family friend, helped arranged the event that took six months to plan. Swider was inspired by the display of the other military leaders to ask the Valcourt family about including a portrait of the general.

Valcourt joked that he "would rather have my picture hung in a library than in a post office," but was "flattered by the effort."

He was particularly pleased the event was conducted on April 5, his father's birthday.

Valcourt expressed pleasure that Brigadier General Wade Ferris from Westover Air Reserve Base was in attendance and recalled growing up on Westover Road and hitching rides on trains going into the Air Force Base.

He said that he attributes to where he is today to the "rich Christian environment" of his childhood in Chicopee.

Valcourt paid tribute in his remarks to Army Specialist Christopher Wilson, a Chicopee native, who was recently killed in Afghanistan, and to Army Sergeant Mark Ecker of East Longmeadow, who lost both his feet in an explosion in Iraq.

Both Valcourt and his father Bill were given gifts from Boy Scout Troop 138.

Bill Valcourt said the ceremony was one of the most memorable days in his life.

He added that he and his wife were "blessed" by their five children who are "all super achievers in their chosen endeavors."

Thanks to e-mail, father and son stay in contact and Valcourt's parents are planning a trip to South Korea in the fall.

The general said it was wonderful to come home and see old friends and family. He said that he was last home about a year ago.

"I left Chicopee when I was 17 to go to West Point," he told The Chicopee Herald. "But this is home, this is where the roots are from."