This Veterans memorial, Our Fallen Heroes, is located in Veterans Memorial Park. It is a large granite memorial, wedge shape and inscribed with the names of the veterans who fought and died for their country in Afghanistan. On each edge are attached a crest from each branch of the military. We will honor and bear witness to their ultimate sacrifice. There are two names inscribed: SGT Joshua J. Kirk and CPL Ethan J. Martin.
OUR FALLEN HEROES
Dedicate to those Service Members
Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
SGT. Joshua J. Kirk, U.S. Army
Afghanistan
October 3, 2009
CPL Ethan J. Martin, U.S. Army
Afghanstan
August 7, 2012
Joshua J. Kirk
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine - Army Sgt. Joshua J. Kirk, 30, currently of Colorado Springs, Colo., died Oct. 3, 2009 in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Born July 19, 1979 in Thomaston, he was the son of Bernadette Kirk Bonner and the late John Kirk. When he was 5 he moved to Idaho and returned to Maine in his late teens.
He attended Southern Maine Community College in the fall of 2004 majoring in construction technology, where he met his wife Megan.
In the spring of 2005, he enlisted in the United States Army. He served two tours in Afghanistan with the 4th Infantry Division based out of Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colo. The first tour of duty was for 15 months and his second tour of duty started in May of 2009. He believed in what he was fighting for and was a highly decorated soldier.
Josh was a devoted husband and father.
Source:
Fosters
A Hero Comes Home
As the cortege passed through Bonners Ferry, chatter stopped. Hands went over hearts, solemn salutes were held as the white hearse bearing the body of 22-year-old Army Specialist Ethan Jacob Martin, made its sad and slow way.
Ethan, an elite paratrooper with the 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, paid the ultimate cost in service to his country, laying down his life in the line of duty August 7, 2012, while serving in Korgay, Afghanistan.
He left behind not only a grieving family, but a grieving community that remembered a boy who grew up here with fondness, a boy grown up in our midst to become a man dedicated to serving a nation.
They turned out today in droves to show their appreciation, love and respect, to tell the family of a fallen young hero that they are not alone in their grief, that they pray a small measure of comfort helps ease the burden of a family that, to paraphrase the words of President Abraham Lincoln, laid a terrible sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Those who witnessed the arrival of the military aircraft that brought Ethan home one final time say they will remember the moment forever.
Source:
Iraq War Heroes