thedrifter
10-14-07, 06:19 AM
Published: October 13, 2007 11:42 pm
Marines honor fallen friends with memorial
Tribute dedicated Saturday at Terre Haute Reserve Center
By Crystal Garcia
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE — “When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today.”
That sentence is etched on a plaque on the memorial for Sgt. Brock Babb, 40, of Evansville and Lance Cpl. Joshua Hines, 26, of Westfield, Ill.
For 1st Sgt. Troy Euclide — it says it all.
Marines Babb and Hines were killed in action Oct. 15, 2006, when the vehicle in which they were patrolling hit an improvised explosive device in the Anbar province, west of Baghdad. They had been in Iraq for 18 days.
Their memorial — a statue of an inverted rifle topped by a helmet and adorned with dog tags with a pair of military boots — was dedicated Saturday morning in a ceremony attended by between 50 and 60 friends and family along with members of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment.
“Because of it being a bronze statue and the nature that it is, it’s going to be there … forever,” Euclide said. “… Right there it tells all a stranger needs to know, that we lost two Marine brothers and they’re never going to be forgotten, no matter how many years that pass by.”
During the dedication, Euclide assured those in attendance, especially the families of Babb and Hines, that the statue would be cared for properly at the Marine Corps Reserve Center on Fruitridge Avenue.
“As long as I’m walking on two feet or if I have to crawl, I just live down the road,” he said. “… I will guarantee you that this will be taken care of even if I have to come on my own as a, hopefully, 80-year-old man some day.”
Efforts to establish the memorial began last April, Euclide said. It was a community effort.
Hines’ widow, Caryn, said the memorial means a lot to her.
“Josh would have really been proud of all this,” she said. “It would have meant a lot to him.”
She said losing her husband of 71⁄2 months has been a lot harder than she thought it was going to be, and thought by now things would have gotten easier.
The Marines of Kilo Company have been a great support system to her through everything, she said, by calling to check on her and inviting her to the center.
“They’re like extended family,” said Caryn Hines, who tries to make it back to visit the Marines once a month from her home in Westfield, Ill.
There isn’t one thing she misses the most about her husband because she said she misses everything.
“I miss him coming into a room. I miss everything about him,” Caryn Hines said. “There’s nothing I can’t miss.”
Members of the Babb family did not want to comment.
Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.
Ellie
Marines honor fallen friends with memorial
Tribute dedicated Saturday at Terre Haute Reserve Center
By Crystal Garcia
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE — “When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today.”
That sentence is etched on a plaque on the memorial for Sgt. Brock Babb, 40, of Evansville and Lance Cpl. Joshua Hines, 26, of Westfield, Ill.
For 1st Sgt. Troy Euclide — it says it all.
Marines Babb and Hines were killed in action Oct. 15, 2006, when the vehicle in which they were patrolling hit an improvised explosive device in the Anbar province, west of Baghdad. They had been in Iraq for 18 days.
Their memorial — a statue of an inverted rifle topped by a helmet and adorned with dog tags with a pair of military boots — was dedicated Saturday morning in a ceremony attended by between 50 and 60 friends and family along with members of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment.
“Because of it being a bronze statue and the nature that it is, it’s going to be there … forever,” Euclide said. “… Right there it tells all a stranger needs to know, that we lost two Marine brothers and they’re never going to be forgotten, no matter how many years that pass by.”
During the dedication, Euclide assured those in attendance, especially the families of Babb and Hines, that the statue would be cared for properly at the Marine Corps Reserve Center on Fruitridge Avenue.
“As long as I’m walking on two feet or if I have to crawl, I just live down the road,” he said. “… I will guarantee you that this will be taken care of even if I have to come on my own as a, hopefully, 80-year-old man some day.”
Efforts to establish the memorial began last April, Euclide said. It was a community effort.
Hines’ widow, Caryn, said the memorial means a lot to her.
“Josh would have really been proud of all this,” she said. “It would have meant a lot to him.”
She said losing her husband of 71⁄2 months has been a lot harder than she thought it was going to be, and thought by now things would have gotten easier.
The Marines of Kilo Company have been a great support system to her through everything, she said, by calling to check on her and inviting her to the center.
“They’re like extended family,” said Caryn Hines, who tries to make it back to visit the Marines once a month from her home in Westfield, Ill.
There isn’t one thing she misses the most about her husband because she said she misses everything.
“I miss him coming into a room. I miss everything about him,” Caryn Hines said. “There’s nothing I can’t miss.”
Members of the Babb family did not want to comment.
Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.
Ellie