Two Chicopee natives are generals in Europe

By Spc. Matthis Chiroux

Special to the Herald

There are approximately 30,000 incorporated cities in the U.S. and 300 general officers in the Army. Without factoring in population figures, this would average out to one general officer for every 100 towns. Chicopee, Mass., however, has two.

Maj. Gen. David P. Valcourt serves in Heidelberg, Germany, as the U.S. Army, Europe deputy chief of staff. Maj. Gen. David T. Zabecki commands the Vicenza, Italy-based Southern European Task Force Rear. The two have served the U.S. as Soldiers for more than 70 combined years. Though their careers have followed somewhat similar paths, they never met until several months ago. When they began talking, they quickly realized they had a lot more in common than their rank.

"We clearly grew up within a five-mile radius of each other," said Valcourt. "I absolutely could not believe the two of us were from the same place ... and never knew each other."

Valcourt is from Chicopee Falls while Zabecki hails from Chicopee proper. Each attended a different high school, and they didn't share any childhood friends.

However, shortly after they started talking, Chicopee-flavored stories of candlepin bowling, MacArthur's Ball, bilingual homes and hearing B-36 bombers taking off from nearby Westover Air Force Base rekindled vivid memories of their childhoods.

The more they talked, the more they realized how oddly similar their careers have been, as well.

"We are both Field Artillery officers, both now major generals and both now serving in USAREUR," said Zabecki.

Zabecki and Valcourt also attended the same command staff college in Great Britain.

"I think Zabecki's case and mine, it may be pure chance," said Valcourt. "But my whole approach to my experience in the Army is when you stop and take time to talk to someone, you will realize, more often than not, there is a connection."

Both officers agreed that two generals coming from such a community was unique, but stressed that it wasn't all by chance.

"The Army's about people who have values," said Valcourt. "Chicopee has values. It is ethnically diverse, the school systems were rigorous and they had a lot of good athletics. Reputation is very important. There is a lot of family pride. There were programs there to keep us off the streets. It had good leaders that served as role models and were unselfish with their time. It had that goodness."

Valcourt and Zabecki are not the first general officers who started out in the Chicopee area. Lt. Gen. Arthur MacArthur, civil war hero and father of Gen. of the Army Douglas MacArthur, was born in Chicopee Falls. Nearby Springfield is the birthplace of Gen. Creighton Abrams, a former Army chief of staff and commander of operations in the Vietnam War.

"It's just one of those patriotic towns," said Valcourt. "There's a lot of American history in that part of the country."

Both generals cited the values instilled in them as children by their parents and community leaders as the keys to their success as adults.

"My dad, my scoutmaster, several teachers; I thought there were many tremendous role models," Valcourt said. "The scout master was a man named Randy Pacquett, who recently passed away. He was a veteran and was a scoutmaster for 28 years. Guys like that who were tirelessly committed to instilling values in young men, how do you capture the value of that?"

Both generals offered advice to young people on the benefits of military service.

"The military offers unparalleled opportunities for education, training and upward mobility. Americans who make a career in the military simply experience more of the world than their fellow citizens," Zabecki said. "Since I first enlisted in 1966, I've been to 52 different countries. Many Americans never even make it to half that many states."

Valcourt offered the following: "Aim high, finish school. Get your education. The most important things you have are the qualities of your character and your values. As you face the adult world, if you have a reputation for being dishonest, unscrupulous and not fair, people are going to go other places. There is no free chicken in life. You have to earn it. Have a vision for where you want to go. Don't just flop around out there. Seek opportunities, seek values and build self-esteem."

Both generals thanked the citizens of Chicopee for their dedication to the United States and wished all back home a safe and prosperous 2006.