MCLA Names Day for Local Soldier, Alum

September 19, 2010

By Phyllis McGuire, IBerkshires

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts designated Saturday, Sept. 18, as Sgt. Lapine Day, but the honoree was not present at ceremony held at the college's Shewcraft Field.
 
Sgt. Sarah Lapine, of Stamford, Vt., was in Afghanistan, where she serves with the 82nd Sustainment Brigade.
 
A 2001 graduate of MCLA and a four-year member of the women's soccer team, Lapine recently sent head coach Deborah Raber an American flag she had flown over Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan as a gift to the Trailblazers. 

The flag was ceremoniously raised over the soccer field on West Shaft Road at the Trailblazers' game against Worcester State on Saturday.
 
Raber said the flag will be flown at all the team's games to honor Lapine and her fellow soldiers.
 
In an interview, Raber mentioned that she and Lapine "worked on getting the flag." 

"I asked Sarah about a commemorative  flag," she said. "I wanted her to know that we still think of her and that she is with us every game."

Raber informed Lapine's parents that MCLA had designated Sept. l8 as Sgt. Lapine Day, and they were looking forward to watching the flag raised on what will be a memorable day for them.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to tell Sarah about Sgt. Lapine Day, but I did when she called the morning of Sept. 14," Jeanne Lapine said last week. "A day doesn't go by that I'm not proud of who is she. She's a brave young lady. All our troops are, but I am a little prejudiced."
 
Attendees at the flag-raising ceremony included LaPine's sociology professor Steve Green,  senior and soccer standout Jessica Tietgens, also of Stamford, and John Greenbush of the facilities department, a local official for basketball and softball whom Lapine has known for years.
 
"Sarah has always been very active in sports and very disciplined," said Jeanne Lapine. "She basically was the only girl on our block and was four years younger than the boys, but she kept up with them." 

Sarah's father, Grant Lapine, recalled that his daughter even played football with the boys.
 
At Drury High School, Lapine was a member of the soccer, basketball and softball teams, and also skied. She did not pursue a career in sports, however, and talked to military recruiters when they came to the high school. "But she was undecided," her mother recalled. 
 
Then in 1997, Lapine joined the National Guard and did her basic training and advanced training when she was in her first and second year at MCLA. After graduating from college, she worked in North Adams and stayed in the National Guard. Meanwhile, she looked into several services, and chose the Army, enlisting in June 2002. Two months later she was deployed to Afghanistan.

Since then, Lapine has also served in South Korea, completed two tours in Iraq and is now doing her second tour in Afghanistan. Her mother was especially worried when Lapine was on her first tour in Iraq. 

"She was in Baghad during the time that we were hearing in the news that all the military vehicles did not have enough armor," Jean Lapine explained. She also remembers how difficult it was to say goodbye the day before Christmas when her daughter was deployed to Afghanistan a second time.  
 

As a soldier, Lapine is bound to never divulge information about combat, but as a daughter she is considerate of her mother's feelings. So when she calls home, she let's her mother know immediately that it is not a dreaded call, and Jeanne Lapine is thankful that her daughter has always been able to say, "I'm OK, Mom. I still have all my fingers and toes."
 
Grant Lapine said of his daughter, "She's something else! She's always liked a challenge." He went on to say that when Lapine was on leave last July, she went skydiving for the first time and liked it so much that she did it again the next day.
 
Her paternal grandmother, Rita Lapine, said, "I sighed 'Oh no' when Sarah told me she was going parachuting and she said, 'But I've always wanted to do it,' She's an adventurer." 
 
During her years in the National Guard and the Army, Lapine has received numerous commendations and awards for her work, her mother said. "She's always been dedicated to the job she does and the college. She puts 100 percent into what she does and takes pride in it."

Based on a conversation with her daughter, Jeanne Lapine expects her to return home in December, having been assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C.

Lapine re-enlisted for five years while she was in South Korea, so she has about four years to serve in the Army. But her father said, "I would not be surprised if she made the Army her career."