thedrifter
01-31-06, 07:39 AM
Trucking company will honor fallen Marine
Vehicles will bear decal of Emsworth soldier
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
By Milan Simonich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Rolling memorials to Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Kenny will touch just about every U.S. highway.
American Road Line, a trucking company based in Moon, announced yesterday that it is placing decals of Cpl. Kenny on its 550 semi tractor-trailers, which haul goods to and from most major cities.
Cpl. Kenny, 20, of Emsworth, died Oct. 6 in a roadside bombing near Al Karmah, Iraq. Three other Marines were killed in the attack.
Ron Faherty, president of American Road Line, said Cpl. Kenny's short life and death in service to his country should not be forgotten. After talking with his sister, Cindy Lioi, who knows the Kenny family, Mr. Faherty proposed using his fleet for an ongoing tribute. The Kennys agreed.
"We'll never forget our son. But we're so humbled that others wanted to make sure he is remembered," Cpl. Kenny's mother, Tricia, said after a ceremony unveiling the decal, about the size of a car window.
It shows Cpl. Kenny in combat gear and carries a simple heading -- "Some Gave All."
Molly Kenny, 22, one of his three sisters, wept as the decal was made public. But she said she felt happy because the decals on wheels will help keep his memory alive.
"I'm overwhelmed. My worst fear was that people would forget about him," she said.
Mr. Faherty had the same concern. He said reports of a handful of war casualties each day can be numbing, causing the public to see the fallen servicemen as statistics instead of sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.
Relatives said Cpl. Kenny's ambition from boyhood was to serve in the military. So gung ho was Cpl. Kenny that he inspired his younger sister, Katy, to follow him into the Marine Corps.
She completed boot camp about two weeks before he was killed. Katy Kenny now is a private stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
In addition to American Road Line's fleet, Emsworth's five fire trucks will carry the decal of Cpl. Kenny. He lived across the street from the firehouse.
Bumper stickers depicting Cpl. Kenny also are available for purchase through American Road Line and the Emsworth Volunteer Fire Department. All proceeds will go to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.
Cpl. Kenny's father, Chuck, said helping injured Marines is a cause his son would have embraced.
Mr. Kenny said people usually want to talk about the politics of the war in Iraq, but he refuses to discuss that topic.
"The question I get most is 'What do you think of us being over there?' I say it doesn't matter. We're there and our young men and women aren't coming home until it's over."
To order a bumper sticker of Cpl. Kenny by e-mail, write cindy@1stoutspecialty.com. The cost is $5 each or three for $10.
(Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1956.)
Ellie
Vehicles will bear decal of Emsworth soldier
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
By Milan Simonich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Rolling memorials to Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Kenny will touch just about every U.S. highway.
American Road Line, a trucking company based in Moon, announced yesterday that it is placing decals of Cpl. Kenny on its 550 semi tractor-trailers, which haul goods to and from most major cities.
Cpl. Kenny, 20, of Emsworth, died Oct. 6 in a roadside bombing near Al Karmah, Iraq. Three other Marines were killed in the attack.
Ron Faherty, president of American Road Line, said Cpl. Kenny's short life and death in service to his country should not be forgotten. After talking with his sister, Cindy Lioi, who knows the Kenny family, Mr. Faherty proposed using his fleet for an ongoing tribute. The Kennys agreed.
"We'll never forget our son. But we're so humbled that others wanted to make sure he is remembered," Cpl. Kenny's mother, Tricia, said after a ceremony unveiling the decal, about the size of a car window.
It shows Cpl. Kenny in combat gear and carries a simple heading -- "Some Gave All."
Molly Kenny, 22, one of his three sisters, wept as the decal was made public. But she said she felt happy because the decals on wheels will help keep his memory alive.
"I'm overwhelmed. My worst fear was that people would forget about him," she said.
Mr. Faherty had the same concern. He said reports of a handful of war casualties each day can be numbing, causing the public to see the fallen servicemen as statistics instead of sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.
Relatives said Cpl. Kenny's ambition from boyhood was to serve in the military. So gung ho was Cpl. Kenny that he inspired his younger sister, Katy, to follow him into the Marine Corps.
She completed boot camp about two weeks before he was killed. Katy Kenny now is a private stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
In addition to American Road Line's fleet, Emsworth's five fire trucks will carry the decal of Cpl. Kenny. He lived across the street from the firehouse.
Bumper stickers depicting Cpl. Kenny also are available for purchase through American Road Line and the Emsworth Volunteer Fire Department. All proceeds will go to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.
Cpl. Kenny's father, Chuck, said helping injured Marines is a cause his son would have embraced.
Mr. Kenny said people usually want to talk about the politics of the war in Iraq, but he refuses to discuss that topic.
"The question I get most is 'What do you think of us being over there?' I say it doesn't matter. We're there and our young men and women aren't coming home until it's over."
To order a bumper sticker of Cpl. Kenny by e-mail, write cindy@1stoutspecialty.com. The cost is $5 each or three for $10.
(Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1956.)
Ellie