thedrifter
07-23-07, 12:36 AM
Section of Queens sidewalk named after marine killed in Iraq
BY LAURA RIVERA
laura.rivera@newsday.com
July 22, 2007
Samantha Rajeh was 6 years old when her brother, a Marine, was killed by a bomb in Iraq in May 2005.
Since then, she has built an altar with candles and flowers in her family's Massapequa home to remember him.
"I pray for him. He would always give me hugs and kisses," Samantha, 9, said. She wore a dog tag engraved with her sibling's photograph and an inscription that read: "My brother. My love."
Under a brilliant sun, Samantha joined family members in their old Queens neighborhood yesterday afternoon to unveil a more public sign of remembrance of their loved one.
Before scores of applauding onlookers, the Rajeh family named a section of sidewalk in Glen Oaks the Lance Cpl. Michael V. Postal Triangle.
The triangle, at the intersection of Union Turnpike and 259th Street, is steps from Postal's childhood home and the church where he was baptized, said his father, John Rajeh, 42.
"We miss him very much," he said. "I wish I could do more for him."
Postal, 21, was killed by a bomb in Anbar Province on May 7, 2005.
A week later, members of the Lima Company, to which he belonged, renamed their operating post "Camp Postal" to honor him. Postal was in the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Rajeh said his son had been determined to join the military since he was a boy.
After graduating from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village, he lost almost 100 pounds as he prepared to become a Marine, Rajeh said.
Postal was sent to serve his first tour of duty in Iraq around Christmas of 2003, Rajeh said. He returned in the spring of 2004 and served in Haiti before being deployed to Iraq again in 2005.
"What he wanted was what he got," Rajeh said. "He wanted to come out and serve his community."
At a Mass dedicated to the fallen soldier at Our Lady of the Snows Roman Catholic Church in Floral Park, the Rev. Msgr. Raymond F. Chappetto exhorted parishioners to pray for him.
"As we look at that sign, it will always be a reminder of that supreme sacrifice Michael made for us," he said.
Afterward, dozens of people filed past the church toward the triangle, where a contingent of uniformed Marines and veterans from the Marine Corps League stood guard.
One of the Marines, Gunnery Sgt. Marc Medeiros, was among those who visited the Rajeh home in 2005 to deliver the news of Postal's death.
Medeiros, 31, helped to plan Postal's funeral, ensuring that bagpipes were played, as Rajeh and his wife, Wendy, Postal's stepmother, wished.
Since then, Medeiros has befriended the family, even spending some holidays with the Rajehs.
"It's hard enough that they had the loss of their son," said Medeiros, of Brashear, Texas. "Through the hard times, we've grown quite close."
As he spoke, Samantha looked on, a big rosary with red, white, and blue fabric flowers draped around her shoulders. She said she planned to add the rosary to her growing altar.
Ellie
BY LAURA RIVERA
laura.rivera@newsday.com
July 22, 2007
Samantha Rajeh was 6 years old when her brother, a Marine, was killed by a bomb in Iraq in May 2005.
Since then, she has built an altar with candles and flowers in her family's Massapequa home to remember him.
"I pray for him. He would always give me hugs and kisses," Samantha, 9, said. She wore a dog tag engraved with her sibling's photograph and an inscription that read: "My brother. My love."
Under a brilliant sun, Samantha joined family members in their old Queens neighborhood yesterday afternoon to unveil a more public sign of remembrance of their loved one.
Before scores of applauding onlookers, the Rajeh family named a section of sidewalk in Glen Oaks the Lance Cpl. Michael V. Postal Triangle.
The triangle, at the intersection of Union Turnpike and 259th Street, is steps from Postal's childhood home and the church where he was baptized, said his father, John Rajeh, 42.
"We miss him very much," he said. "I wish I could do more for him."
Postal, 21, was killed by a bomb in Anbar Province on May 7, 2005.
A week later, members of the Lima Company, to which he belonged, renamed their operating post "Camp Postal" to honor him. Postal was in the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Rajeh said his son had been determined to join the military since he was a boy.
After graduating from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village, he lost almost 100 pounds as he prepared to become a Marine, Rajeh said.
Postal was sent to serve his first tour of duty in Iraq around Christmas of 2003, Rajeh said. He returned in the spring of 2004 and served in Haiti before being deployed to Iraq again in 2005.
"What he wanted was what he got," Rajeh said. "He wanted to come out and serve his community."
At a Mass dedicated to the fallen soldier at Our Lady of the Snows Roman Catholic Church in Floral Park, the Rev. Msgr. Raymond F. Chappetto exhorted parishioners to pray for him.
"As we look at that sign, it will always be a reminder of that supreme sacrifice Michael made for us," he said.
Afterward, dozens of people filed past the church toward the triangle, where a contingent of uniformed Marines and veterans from the Marine Corps League stood guard.
One of the Marines, Gunnery Sgt. Marc Medeiros, was among those who visited the Rajeh home in 2005 to deliver the news of Postal's death.
Medeiros, 31, helped to plan Postal's funeral, ensuring that bagpipes were played, as Rajeh and his wife, Wendy, Postal's stepmother, wished.
Since then, Medeiros has befriended the family, even spending some holidays with the Rajehs.
"It's hard enough that they had the loss of their son," said Medeiros, of Brashear, Texas. "Through the hard times, we've grown quite close."
As he spoke, Samantha looked on, a big rosary with red, white, and blue fabric flowers draped around her shoulders. She said she planned to add the rosary to her growing altar.
Ellie