Servant. Leader. Passionate. Those were the themes of First Sgt. John Blair’s funeral Wednesday at Trinity Baptist Church in Calhoun. Hundreds of family, friends, soldiers, airmen, deputies and law enforcement filled the sanctuary, balcony, and lobby to pay homage to a man described as a man passionate about his family, his friends, and his country. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart at the service.

“He believed in leading by example, leading from the front and that’s how he died,” said Therrell Goswick, former Calhoun City Police Chief and retired Command Sergeant Major. His voice broke as he called Blair his “adopted son” and spoke about his work with the Georgia Army National Guard’s Counter Drug Unit.

Goswick said Blair, who enlisted in the Kentucky Army National Guard in 1989 and later trans-ferred to the Georgia Army National Guard, “had a yearning to lead troops” and the highly deco-rated soldier and former Gordon County Sheriff’s Deputy “had one speed –wide open, and one di-rection –straight ahead.”

“He was a true American hero, a self-made American hero. God must have had a pretty serious mission to need him,” he said.

Major General William T. Nesbit, Adjutant General for Georgia, who had worked with Blair be-fore a trip to Iraq last year, recalled him as a “soldier’s soldier.” He said Blair’s death hit especially close to home as he’d known Blair’s wife, Donna, for years. He also read a statement from Matt Smith, Blair’s commander in Afghanistan. “He was the real deal, practiced tough love and was re-spected because of it.”

He credited Blair for applying for the First Sergeants job with A/1-121 Infantry unit knowing they would soon deploy to Afghanistan. Blair was killed at Mado Zayi, Afghanistan, when a rocke-propelled grenade struck his vehicle.

“He died with his finger on the trigger,” Nesbitt said.

Detective Shane Parrott said that Blair became a mentor and teacher when he started at the Gordon County Sheriff’s Office and through the years became close friends.

“You look at the program and you see generals and leaders, I’m none of those things, but I was his friend and he loved me,” Parrott said.

During his emotional eulogy, Parrott said that Blair asked him to do two things if anything hap-pened to him – to do his funeral and to take care of his family.

“I’m doing the best I can,” he said. “I learned to appreciate my family from him.”

“If there are more soldiers like John Blair, we’re going to be okay. I’ve met some of them and I know, we are going to okay,” he said.

The funeral procession went through downtown Calhoun where a giant American flag hung be-tween two fire trucks in front of the courthouse. People lined the street, hands over hearts as the mile-plus long processional went by. Blair will be interned at the Georgia National Cemetery.