Capt. Jay Brainard: a true son of Maine

By Col. Jay Voorhees

The greatest honor of my professional life will always be that I was given the responsibility and I was entrusted with the awesome responsibility to lead and command our nation’s greatest treasure – it’s sons and daughters. And in that capacity, I was honored to meet great young Americans from every background, ethnicity, creed, color, religion and who hailed from every corner of our great nation from big cities to small towns.

And, of course, I had the honor to lead and serve alongside great patriots from the great state of Maine and none more exemplified the remarkable spirit of your great state than Cpt. Jay Brainard – a true son of Maine.

As a bit of background, I was Jay’s commanding officer in the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade stationed in Ansbach, Germany and I was with Jay and CW5 John Pratt flying the helicopter in front of them on May 28th, 2012, in Wardak Province Afghanistan, a long ways from this beautiful setting today … when they gave the ultimate sacrifice to our great nation. That was no doubt a tough day for all of us. Our brigade, his army family, his immediate family, his friends, this community and the multitude of people that Jay touched and influence over his years. However life is about how you move forward from difficult situations, collectively, and seeing this great event today gives me such pride and shows me that Jay Brainard’s enduring legacy. The overwhelming pride we all have in knowing him or serving with him will never fade away and it will live in all of us and it will live in generations to come because of this dedication today. That is really awesome!

I met Jay on the eve of a major deployment of our brigade to Afghanistan. Jay had just completed his time as an Apache platoon leader and in this capacity he had excelled, leading his soldiers and flying the most complex helicopter in the world. Jay had performed magnificently in his platoon leader capacity and was ready for another challenging job to continue his professional development. Coincidentally, I needed a very high speed, energetic young captain to come to the brigade staff to serve as my adjutant for our upcoming deployment. When I had the chance to interview Jay for this position, the choice was obvious. Jay walked in, stood in front of my desk, snapped a salute and said he was prepared to serve in any capacity that could help our team as we prepared for deployment. Needless to say, I was impressed!

Now for those here that don’t know what a brigade adjutant does – well, basically Jay was there to keep me straight. Jay had to keep me on schedule, manage my calendar, make sure the staff was informed, ensure while we were away from the headquarters, that we could always communicate and be accessible 24/7 for any time-sensitive requirements I needed to attend to.

As we deployed to Afghanistan, our brigade was spread out in over 32 different sites in Afghanistan, Europe and Kuwait and we had much going on in all locations. Jay was always at my side, always there to keep me informed of events in all locations and he was a critical part of our command team. We had very long days but I always took comfort in knowing during those days, Jay was never more than a – ”Cpt. Brainard” and from the next room over I would always hear ”yes sir, on my way” – away from my side.

Now as Jay was the ultimate professional and his dedication to his duties was impeccable, I have to tell you I don’t ever remember seeing Jay not smiling. This was his first deployment and although he missed Emily, his young wife, and he missed this Maine countryside and his family here, Jay was in his element. I could tell his excitement of being on his first deployment and his excitement rubbed off on all of us. Jay was doing exactly what he wanted to be doing – serving his country, contributing to something bigger than himself, being a member of a great team and also doing what he had trained for and worked so hard for – flying his Apache in a combat environment, out front, leading the way. Jay would not have wanted to be anywhere else at that time.

Now as an aside, all here know that Jay was an Apache helicopter pilot, for context that is the gold standard for Army aviators. You have to be among the very best in your flight class, do well in all aspects of your flight training, be respected among your peers and if you are able to maintain those high standards throughout flight school, a very small percentage of Army aviators are sent to the Apache helicopter transition to become attack pilots. iIt just goes to show that if you work hard you can accomplish your dreams. That is the American dream and Jay lived the American dream.

I mean think about it, a small town kid from Maine, a country boy growing up hunting, fishing, canoeing, snowmobiling and enjoying every minute of it, attending Foxcroft Academy, playing football, being on the swim team, playing trumpet in the jazz band, enjoying the great outdoors and eventually going to college at the University of Maine and then entering the Army and becoming an Army aviator.

Jay was a godson, a husband, a friend, a patriotic, dedicated American, humble, driven, a warrior, a soldier, a son of Maine and someone all knew they could trust. A shining example for all to emulate and in a world of chaos, we should all look to Jay as the standard of what is right about his generation and all generations for that matter. That is living the American dream in my book.

Jay set lofty goals and went for his dreams. The theme of Jay’s dreams were “go big or go home.” No doubt that you went big my brother and we are all better for it.

In my new career I am involved with leadership training for the doctors, clinicians and administrators at the hospital I work at in Orlando, Florida as part of our leadership course, we take our class to Gettysburg every summer and study leadership lessons from that great battle that turned the tide of the Civil War. And as part of that study we go to place called Little Round Top. I am sure many of you here today are familiar with it, it’s a hill on the battlefield where the 20th Maine, augmented with soldiers from the 2nd Maine, found themselves defending the far left flank of the Union line on the 2nd of July, 1863 where if they were unable to do that, the Civil War could have turned out much different. They were the last line of defense on that far end of the Union line and failure was not an option! And for the record, the sons of Maine did not fail.

Every time I go too Little Round Top, I think of how those young sons of Maine, led by Col. Joshua Chamberlain, defended that ground as ordered “at every hazard.” Every time I go to Little Round Top I think about how the courage of those young sons of Maine changed the course of American history. Every time i go to Little Round Top, I think of loyalty, respect, honor, courage, dedication to duty, selflessness, teamwork, the soldier ethos of “never letting the man or women to their left or right down.” Every time I go to Little Round Top, I think of Jay Brainard and i know that as a fellow son of Maine he stands shoulder to shoulder with those 20th and 2nd Maine soldiers today and among all of those who have stood up and said ”send me I will go” to defend our great nation. Jay stands among those who heard the distant sound of the guns and didn’t run in the other direction, but ran towards the sounds of the guns. Jay has taken his esteemed spot among all of the heros of our nation who have made all of lives better.

I think Theodore Roosevelt said it best. “It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming but who does actually strive to do the deeds who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Jay, you had the courage to enter the arena when many other couldn’t or wouldn’t and this bridge dedication will serve as a constant reminder that there are heroes among us, heroes like you who were actually in the arena and you will never be forgotten. And I would ask all who drive across this bridge today and in the years to come to just say a simple thanks for Jay Brainard’s life lived, the example he set and the freedoms you enjoy because of great Americans like Jay who sacrificed all of his tomorrows for all of our todays and always honor his legacy.

John 15, verse 13 says: “there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” As soldiers, we all understand this and Jay demonstrated no greater love on May 28th, 2012 for all of us.

May God bless this bridge, the memory of Jay Brainard, this great community, the great state of Maine, and our beloved United States of America!

Colonel Jay Voohees is the (retired) commander of the 12 Combat Aviation Brigade.