Get To Know David

Family

David and his wife Erin have been together since the first night they met, soon after David returned from Iraq in 2005. Married in July of 2007, David and Erin settled in the village of Harrisville, in the Town of Burrillville, in January of 2010. In 2012 David and Erin were blessed to gain full custody of Michelle, who had been living in Germany with her mother. Michelle is a member of Burrillville High School’s class of 2018 and is currently enrolled at Rhode Island College majoring in History and Political Science. In February of 2020 David and Erin welcomed Amalia Marie into this world.

Early life

In 1977 David was born to a single mother in Biloxi, Mississippi. Soon after his mother returned home with David to Swansea, Massachusetts. The two moved around for several years between Swansea, MA; Watertown, MA; and Preston, CT. Spending Summers in Preston, David was heavily influenced by his mother’s maternal family who worked a family dairy farm that is still in operation today. Early on he learned what it meant to not only work hard, but to to play hard as well.

For the first several years of his life, David and his mother lived on welfare and the love and support of his mother’s family, both in Connecticut and Swansea. Two events changed the course of their lives dramatically in the early 1980’s. First, David and his mother joined the Calvary Temple Assemblies of God Church family in Fall River, Massachusetts. With the stability and support that family provided, David’s mother earned a degree in nursing and eventually became a Registered Nurse. In 1987 David’s mother married a small business owner, but continued their nomadic life as the small family moved back and forth from Swansea and Fall River for several years with David eventually graduating from Swansea’s Joseph Case Senior High School in 1996.

Military Service

In August of 1996 David was sworn into the United States Army. In November of the same year he graduated from the M1A1 Abrams Armored Crewman One Station Unit Training at the Armor School located at Fort Knox, Kentucky. A brand new tanker, David was assigned to his first unit, D Company, 2nd Battalion, 34 Armored Regiment, at Fort Riley Kansas. David served with D Company until being reassigned in June of 1998 to A Troop, 1st Squadron, 4th U.S. Cavalry stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Now a Staff Sargent, David was deployed to Iraq as Part of Operation Iraq Freedom II as a Tank Commander. While in Iraq David was decorated for Leadership and Valor for his actions while in combat. In Iraq for 13 months, his unit was assigned to oversee and provide security for Iraq’s first post war election. Witnessing Iraqis voting for the first time in their lives greatly influenced David’s decision to enter politics after leaving the Army.

Following his return from Iraq, David returned to the United States Armor School at Fort Knox, this time as an instructor at the Armor Officers Basic Course (AOBC). As an AOBC instructor, David mentored newly Commissioned Officers as they learned what it was to be a Tank Commander and Platoon Leader.

Return to Civilian Life

In 2006, after 10 years of service, David ETS and returned to civilian life. After moving around for a few years, he and Erin settled in Burrillville in 2009. In 2010 David earned a B.S. in Accounting from Rhode Island College. A weak economy and family commitments resulted in David working in a series of accounting, management and marketing positions over the course of five years. 2015 saw a change in course when he attended The Shipbuilding / Marine Trades and Advanced Manufacturing Institute (SAMI) at New England Tech. Newly retrained in the machining trade, David was hired by a family owned Rhode Island machine shop in 2015.

Return to service

David’s call to politics began on January 30, 2005 outside a polling location during Iraq’s first post-war election. After responding to the polling site several times throughout the morning in response to small arms fire, David parked his M1A1 Abrams Tank right outside the poll in an effort to bring calm to the situation. Despite the threat to their lives, Iraqis had continued exercising their right to vote throughout the morning as the poll never shut down and voting never stopped, even under direct small arms fire. While the shooting had stopped with the arrival of David’s tank, the threat never went away. Iraqis continued voting until the polls officially closed that night, they had simply used David’s tank as cover.

Inspired by what he saw in Iraq, David could not say no when asked to run for Burrillville Town Council in 2010. After barnstorming the town with fellow candidate Stephen Rawson, the two finished high enough in the polls to secure seats on the council. After serving four years David was re-elected to the Town Council in 2014. As a member of the Council, David served as Chairman of the Audit Sub-Committee, and the Screening Sub-Committee and was a member of the Ordinance Sub-Committee.

Wanting to further serve his community, David was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Harrisville Fire District Operating Committee in 2015. Elected to his own term in 2017, David continued his service at first as a member of the Water Sub-Committee & Audit Committee, and later was appointed to the Fire Sub-Committee, along with being a member of the district’s fire fighters collective bargaining committee.

In November 2018, David was elected as your State Representative for House District 47 representing Burrillville and Glocester. David is a member of the House Committee on Judiciary, House Committee on Municipal Government, and House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs.