thedrifter
07-30-07, 07:06 AM
Town commemorates a Marine's sacrifice
With sadness, pride, Tyngsborough unveils Paul Nicholas King Square
By Charles M. Sennott, Globe Staff | July 30, 2007
TYNGSBOROUGH -- Last summer, Marine Corporal Paul Nicholas King was killed by small arms fire while fighting insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, on a tour of duty with the Marine Reserve battalion known as "New England's Own."
Yesterday, his widow and his family and his fellow Marines from Fort Devens in Ayer gathered for an emotional ceremony to commemorate his sacrifice and to dedicate the entrance to Tyngsborough Town Hall. It will be known as Paul Nicholas King Square.
His younger brother, Daniel, 20, who just graduated from Marine boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., last week and is preparing for a possible tour of duty in Iraq, pulled a black shroud from the street sign. Etched in bronze, the marker proclaimed the new name of the square in the King family's hometown.
"It's still hard even after a year," said his father, Paul C. King, standing in the shade and talking with the fellow Marines at a service that the family had requested to be small, without any elaborate military protocol or political fanfare.
"Our thoughts are with the families who still have loved ones over there," said King's mother, Julie, her three daughters by her side.
Daniel was inspired by his brother to volunteer for the Marine Corps and was originally set to begin training just 15 days after his only brother was killed, on June 25, 2006.
He agreed to respect his parents' request to hold off for a while, and now has finished boot camp and is awaiting further orders.
"I don't have a lot to say except that I'm proud of his sacrifice," said Daniel from behind wrap-around sunglasses.
His fellow Marines, in civilian clothes, and friends and members of the extended family clustered around the plaque and shared prayers and personal remembrances of King, who was 23 and who took his name from the fact that he was born on Christmas Day. He was always known as Nick.
Marine Corporal Mark Wills, 37, who served with King in Iraq, said, "For all of us, it is a chapter in the healing process. It's closure for his family and it's a chance to show some well-deserved respect."
Corporal Michael Stubbs, 24, met King at the recruitment center in Lowell back in 2002 and served by his side in the same 81mm Mortar Platoon out of the First Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment's Weapons Company. "After we got activated, they gave reservists a choice whether they wanted to volunteer in Iraq," Stubbs said. "He didn't have to go, but he did. We just looked at each other, and he said, "We're not going to let each other go alone."
"That's just the kind of guy he was. That pretty much says it all," added Stubbs.
Kevin O'Connor, the town's director of Veterans' Services, who organized the event, said, "He was my neighbor. He was my paper boy. He was a great hometown kid, and I hope this remembrance will show that his service meant a lot to us."
King's widow, Rebecca, 24, his high school sweetheart, who now lives in Dracut, shared with the small gathering Nick's truest passion: food. He was a short-order cook at Rosie's Diner in Chelmsford, and his father is an accomplished chef at a Boston restaurant.
"He loved food. We used to call him a skinny fat guy," she said, causing many of his fellow Marines to chuckle at their memory of his love for cooking and eating and his small pot, a favorite utensil that sat on thin legs.
Brigid Gore, the wife of a fellow Marine, sang a soulful rendition of the Marine Corps Hymn, and then the Marines and King's family placed small American flags amid the flowers and fresh mulch at the base of the new town square dedicated to the fallen Marine.
Sennott can be reached at sennott@globe.com.
Ellie
With sadness, pride, Tyngsborough unveils Paul Nicholas King Square
By Charles M. Sennott, Globe Staff | July 30, 2007
TYNGSBOROUGH -- Last summer, Marine Corporal Paul Nicholas King was killed by small arms fire while fighting insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, on a tour of duty with the Marine Reserve battalion known as "New England's Own."
Yesterday, his widow and his family and his fellow Marines from Fort Devens in Ayer gathered for an emotional ceremony to commemorate his sacrifice and to dedicate the entrance to Tyngsborough Town Hall. It will be known as Paul Nicholas King Square.
His younger brother, Daniel, 20, who just graduated from Marine boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., last week and is preparing for a possible tour of duty in Iraq, pulled a black shroud from the street sign. Etched in bronze, the marker proclaimed the new name of the square in the King family's hometown.
"It's still hard even after a year," said his father, Paul C. King, standing in the shade and talking with the fellow Marines at a service that the family had requested to be small, without any elaborate military protocol or political fanfare.
"Our thoughts are with the families who still have loved ones over there," said King's mother, Julie, her three daughters by her side.
Daniel was inspired by his brother to volunteer for the Marine Corps and was originally set to begin training just 15 days after his only brother was killed, on June 25, 2006.
He agreed to respect his parents' request to hold off for a while, and now has finished boot camp and is awaiting further orders.
"I don't have a lot to say except that I'm proud of his sacrifice," said Daniel from behind wrap-around sunglasses.
His fellow Marines, in civilian clothes, and friends and members of the extended family clustered around the plaque and shared prayers and personal remembrances of King, who was 23 and who took his name from the fact that he was born on Christmas Day. He was always known as Nick.
Marine Corporal Mark Wills, 37, who served with King in Iraq, said, "For all of us, it is a chapter in the healing process. It's closure for his family and it's a chance to show some well-deserved respect."
Corporal Michael Stubbs, 24, met King at the recruitment center in Lowell back in 2002 and served by his side in the same 81mm Mortar Platoon out of the First Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment's Weapons Company. "After we got activated, they gave reservists a choice whether they wanted to volunteer in Iraq," Stubbs said. "He didn't have to go, but he did. We just looked at each other, and he said, "We're not going to let each other go alone."
"That's just the kind of guy he was. That pretty much says it all," added Stubbs.
Kevin O'Connor, the town's director of Veterans' Services, who organized the event, said, "He was my neighbor. He was my paper boy. He was a great hometown kid, and I hope this remembrance will show that his service meant a lot to us."
King's widow, Rebecca, 24, his high school sweetheart, who now lives in Dracut, shared with the small gathering Nick's truest passion: food. He was a short-order cook at Rosie's Diner in Chelmsford, and his father is an accomplished chef at a Boston restaurant.
"He loved food. We used to call him a skinny fat guy," she said, causing many of his fellow Marines to chuckle at their memory of his love for cooking and eating and his small pot, a favorite utensil that sat on thin legs.
Brigid Gore, the wife of a fellow Marine, sang a soulful rendition of the Marine Corps Hymn, and then the Marines and King's family placed small American flags amid the flowers and fresh mulch at the base of the new town square dedicated to the fallen Marine.
Sennott can be reached at sennott@globe.com.
Ellie