ACADIA PARISH – On the same day that scores of Iota residents lined the streets to honor Marine Cpl. Matt Richard as his body returned home, area residents received the tragic news Wednesday that another soldier who was a former resident of Acadia Parish, Staff Sergeant Nicholas Bellard, 26, was killed in Iraq.

Bellard lived in Crowley until he was 13 when he moved to El Paso, Texas where he graduated from high school. He attended South Crowley Elementary School as a child.

“Nick was a humble man...a man of few words,” said his aunt, Susan Ohlenforst, of Rayne. “Like my brother always said he was a thinker. He loved his family with all his heart.”

Bellard’s body, like Richard’s last week, will be flown to Delaware and will then be transferred to El Paso “so that he can be buried near his family.”

He leaves behind his wife, Veronica, and a two-year-old daughter, Eva.

According to Ohlenforst, Bellard joined the Army to help put his wife through school. She recently graduated and is presently working as a teacher.

“In December 2009, we threw him a surprise welcome home party after his first tour in Iraq,” said Ohlenforst. “Then he decided to reenlist. I guess it was God’s turn to welcome him home.”

“What can I say,” she added. “He is just like any other soldier who fought and died for our country in support of our freedom.”