Brian was 27-years-old, married and was a 2001 graduate of Buchanan High School. His dad says he enlisted in 2003 and this was his third tour of duty. Those with military ties in the Valley are collectively mourning the Piercy family's loss.
Army Staff Sergeant Piercy is the seventh member of the military from Buchanan High to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan in the past decade. Last year the school honored their other fallen heroes by dedicating their football field -- calling it "Veterans Memorial Stadium."
Charlie Waters is a war veteran and has helped many families bury their loved ones in Clovis. He says the area -- particularly the Buchanan families bleed red, white, and blue for their country. "In combat you don't know. You don't know when, you don't know where. You don't know how. There's just no answer. It's just that there's so many from that Clovis area, Buchanan that's so patriotic."
The impact is also being felt elsewhere. Charlotte Novak-Brown's son Blake is an Army Specialist and just finished a tour of duty in Somalia. Novak-Brown is also a part of the Central Valley Blue Star Moms, a group dedicated to helping military families in their time of need. She doesn't know the Piercy family but she says it could have been her son who didn't make it back. "Someone could walk up to my door and give me that same news. I don't know exactly how that family feels, but I know potentially I could be that family. So it's very devastating for us to have children to serve."
So Novak-Brown will be up all night making 500 ribbons she hopes will be handed out at the Piercy funeral.
Staff Sergeant Piercy's mother is on her way to pick up his body in Delaware. His brother Kevin Piercy is also in the military but is serving stateside in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Brian's father is a Vietnam Veteran.
