thedrifter
10-02-06, 03:56 PM
Marines join grieving mom in dedicating memorial
Monday, October 02, 2006
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
PORTLAND -- She lost a daughter. Then a husband. And in December 2005, Diane Huhn lost her son, Marine Lance Cpl. David Huhn, in an explosion west of Baghdad.
On Sunday, she was joined in mourning for her soldier son by Marines who gathered in a park in this small Ionia County town.
"This is for these guys," she said. "This is my family. These Marines have helped me tremendously. They have been my strength."
Diane Huhn knew the 12 Marines from Huhn's unit were scheduled to deploy in February for Iraq. And while she thanked a community for honoring her son with a granite-and-bronze monument, she let it be known her thoughts were with them.
"I wanted closure for them. They are getting ready to go back," she said.
David Huhn, 24, was among 10 Marines from the 1st Marine Division killed in the attack. Military officials say the Marines were killed by a booby trapped-bomb near Fallujah as they gathered in an abandoned flour mill used as a patrol base. He is the first soldier from Portland killed in war since the Vietnam War.
His death was merely the latest blow for Huhn, whose husband, Larry, died of a heart attack at age 54 earlier in 2005. Fifteen years before that, their daughter, Jane, died in a farming accident.
Diane Huhn said she has found strength by working to see that other fallen soldiers get the honor they deserve. She urged adoption of legislation passed earlier this year to keep protesters at a distance from military funerals.
"I just have to keep going," Huhn said.
Fifteen Marines made the trip from Camp Pendleton, Calif., for the dedication of the monument, which was installed by Lest They Be Forgotten, a nonprofit group that works to honor U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. About 200 attended the ceremony, including Marine Capt. George Hasseltine, Huhn's commander in Iraq.
His service in Iraq, Hasseltine said, "personified duty faithfully performed."
David Huhn s a 2000 graduate of Portland High School. He joined the Marines in 2004. Family and friends said he was motivated to join by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks three years earlier.
Given all that Diane Huhn had been through, some in this town wondered how she held together after David died.
"I don't know how she survived this," said Mary Miller, owner of the Portland Cafe.
But Miller said towns such as Portland can help, by being a different kind of family.
"Because we are such a small town, we all know everyone," she said.
Local residents pitched in at a dinner and auction to raise $8,000 for the memorial, the sixth such monument installed in Michigan.
Among those he served with in Iraq are Lance Cpl. Joseph Grady, 20, who spoke briefly at the dedication.
Grady lost his right arm, a kidney, part of his colon and suffered hearing loss in the explosion that killed Huhn and his fellow Marines.
"I don't remember anything. I just remember waking up in the hospital," Grady said.
But he said it meant a lot to him and the other Marines to come back to Huhn's home town, to visit with his mother and some of his friends.
Send e-mail to the author: troelofs@grpress.com
Ellie
Monday, October 02, 2006
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
PORTLAND -- She lost a daughter. Then a husband. And in December 2005, Diane Huhn lost her son, Marine Lance Cpl. David Huhn, in an explosion west of Baghdad.
On Sunday, she was joined in mourning for her soldier son by Marines who gathered in a park in this small Ionia County town.
"This is for these guys," she said. "This is my family. These Marines have helped me tremendously. They have been my strength."
Diane Huhn knew the 12 Marines from Huhn's unit were scheduled to deploy in February for Iraq. And while she thanked a community for honoring her son with a granite-and-bronze monument, she let it be known her thoughts were with them.
"I wanted closure for them. They are getting ready to go back," she said.
David Huhn, 24, was among 10 Marines from the 1st Marine Division killed in the attack. Military officials say the Marines were killed by a booby trapped-bomb near Fallujah as they gathered in an abandoned flour mill used as a patrol base. He is the first soldier from Portland killed in war since the Vietnam War.
His death was merely the latest blow for Huhn, whose husband, Larry, died of a heart attack at age 54 earlier in 2005. Fifteen years before that, their daughter, Jane, died in a farming accident.
Diane Huhn said she has found strength by working to see that other fallen soldiers get the honor they deserve. She urged adoption of legislation passed earlier this year to keep protesters at a distance from military funerals.
"I just have to keep going," Huhn said.
Fifteen Marines made the trip from Camp Pendleton, Calif., for the dedication of the monument, which was installed by Lest They Be Forgotten, a nonprofit group that works to honor U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. About 200 attended the ceremony, including Marine Capt. George Hasseltine, Huhn's commander in Iraq.
His service in Iraq, Hasseltine said, "personified duty faithfully performed."
David Huhn s a 2000 graduate of Portland High School. He joined the Marines in 2004. Family and friends said he was motivated to join by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks three years earlier.
Given all that Diane Huhn had been through, some in this town wondered how she held together after David died.
"I don't know how she survived this," said Mary Miller, owner of the Portland Cafe.
But Miller said towns such as Portland can help, by being a different kind of family.
"Because we are such a small town, we all know everyone," she said.
Local residents pitched in at a dinner and auction to raise $8,000 for the memorial, the sixth such monument installed in Michigan.
Among those he served with in Iraq are Lance Cpl. Joseph Grady, 20, who spoke briefly at the dedication.
Grady lost his right arm, a kidney, part of his colon and suffered hearing loss in the explosion that killed Huhn and his fellow Marines.
"I don't remember anything. I just remember waking up in the hospital," Grady said.
But he said it meant a lot to him and the other Marines to come back to Huhn's home town, to visit with his mother and some of his friends.
Send e-mail to the author: troelofs@grpress.com
Ellie