thedrifter
06-14-06, 06:45 AM
Marines pay tribute to their fallen brother
Ceremony honors Mark Smykowski
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Jennifer Price
Plain Dealer Reporter
Marines, young and old, stood at attention as an American flag was raised and then lowered to half staff in the front yard of a Euclid home Tuesday.
The Marines, and almost 60 friends and neighbors, gathered to honor Marine Sgt. Mark Smykowski, who was killed last week in Iraq.
Three Marines -- brothers Darren and Kenny Smykowski and friend Brian Halan -- gave a slow salute, one they weren't taught in basic training. Three seconds up to the tip of their caps. Hold for three seconds. Three seconds down.
Father Bert Smykowski, mother Diana Ross and other family members, hands across their hearts, stared at the waving flag.
Frank Montana, 85, a World War II Marine veteran and Euclid resident, saluted Smykowski "out of allegiance and respect."
"This is the saddest day in my life but also the proudest," Ross said to the crowd gathered in her front lawn. "My son's death was not in vain. No Marines' deaths are in vain."
Montana could not agree more about being proud of the Marine Corps.
"When you go to boot camp, from the very first day, there is a camaraderie that your drill instructors instill in you," said Montana, who served in Japan and north China from June 1944 to February 1946.
Montana did not personally know Smykowski. He said he came to pay respects to a fellow "brother."
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," he said.
Gunnery Sergeants Michael Brady and Michael Pavlick, casualty assistance officers with the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment in Brook Park, led the ceremony to commemorate Smykowski, 23, who was assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division.
The two sergeants broke the news to Ross, in Euclid, and Mark's father, Bert Smykowski of Garfield Heights, that their son was killed by a roadside bomb outside Fallujah on June 6.
Sgt. Darren Smykowski, 23, recently returned home from Iraq. Pfc. Kenny Smykowski, 19, joined the Marines last summer and is stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Ross said she spoke to Mark just a week before he died.
He told her about the rising violence in Iraq and Ross quickly asked him if he was "with God."
"I'm good to go," she said Mark told her. "I know I'll go to heaven."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jprice@plaind.com, 216-999-4380
Ellie
Ceremony honors Mark Smykowski
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Jennifer Price
Plain Dealer Reporter
Marines, young and old, stood at attention as an American flag was raised and then lowered to half staff in the front yard of a Euclid home Tuesday.
The Marines, and almost 60 friends and neighbors, gathered to honor Marine Sgt. Mark Smykowski, who was killed last week in Iraq.
Three Marines -- brothers Darren and Kenny Smykowski and friend Brian Halan -- gave a slow salute, one they weren't taught in basic training. Three seconds up to the tip of their caps. Hold for three seconds. Three seconds down.
Father Bert Smykowski, mother Diana Ross and other family members, hands across their hearts, stared at the waving flag.
Frank Montana, 85, a World War II Marine veteran and Euclid resident, saluted Smykowski "out of allegiance and respect."
"This is the saddest day in my life but also the proudest," Ross said to the crowd gathered in her front lawn. "My son's death was not in vain. No Marines' deaths are in vain."
Montana could not agree more about being proud of the Marine Corps.
"When you go to boot camp, from the very first day, there is a camaraderie that your drill instructors instill in you," said Montana, who served in Japan and north China from June 1944 to February 1946.
Montana did not personally know Smykowski. He said he came to pay respects to a fellow "brother."
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," he said.
Gunnery Sergeants Michael Brady and Michael Pavlick, casualty assistance officers with the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment in Brook Park, led the ceremony to commemorate Smykowski, 23, who was assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division.
The two sergeants broke the news to Ross, in Euclid, and Mark's father, Bert Smykowski of Garfield Heights, that their son was killed by a roadside bomb outside Fallujah on June 6.
Sgt. Darren Smykowski, 23, recently returned home from Iraq. Pfc. Kenny Smykowski, 19, joined the Marines last summer and is stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Ross said she spoke to Mark just a week before he died.
He told her about the rising violence in Iraq and Ross quickly asked him if he was "with God."
"I'm good to go," she said Mark told her. "I know I'll go to heaven."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jprice@plaind.com, 216-999-4380
Ellie