thedrifter
11-22-07, 05:16 AM
Round Rock post office may be named for Marine
Cpl. Steven Gill wanted to be a Marine since he was 9 years old, family said.
By Isadora Vail
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, November 22, 2007
ROUND ROCK — Like thousands of American troops, Marine Cpl. Steven Gill died while fighting in the war on Iraq.
He could soon have a local post office named in his honor if the Senate and then President Bush approve.
Last week, U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, proposed a bill to rename the post office on Sam Bass Road after Gill, who was killed in Iraq two years ago.
The resolution passed unanimously and is making its way through the Senate.
Gill's mother, Rose Camero-Gill, said her 24-year-old son was one of the first troops from Round Rock to die in Iraq. Gill was killed July 21, 2005, during his first tour in Zaidon by an improvised explosive device while he was inspecting a vehicle.
Camero-Gill said she wrote Carter asking him to name a post office after her son, who graduated from Westwood High School.
"I didn't know he would name the post office that is so close to home after him. I was in disbelief and am ecstatic that this is happening," she said.
Gill's father, Bill Gill, lives in Austin and is a retired Marine. Gill said his son had wanted to be a Marine since he was 9 years old but wanted to wait until after college to join.
That changed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The following January, he enlisted and was assigned to his father's old battalion in San Antonio.
Bill Gill said his son enjoyed Korean martial arts and received several national awards for sword and dance performance.
He also went on mission trips with his Lutheran church in Round Rock.
Carter said he was moved by Camero-Gill's determination and took up her suggestion after they met while running the Marine Corps marathon in Washington in 2005.
"The events of September 11th moved Corporal Gill to take up arms to defend his country," Carter said. "This is a small tribute to a hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice for his country."
There are a few post offices in the area dedicated to soldiers. In Pflugerville, a post office was renamed for Sgt. Byron Norwood, 25, who was killed on a 2004 mission to rescue wounded Marines trapped in a house in Fallujah.
In Austin, a post office was named for Sgt. Henry Ybarra III, 32, who was killed in Iraq in 2003 when a tire he was changing on a cargo truck exploded.
ivail@statesman.com; 246-0053
Ellie
Cpl. Steven Gill wanted to be a Marine since he was 9 years old, family said.
By Isadora Vail
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, November 22, 2007
ROUND ROCK — Like thousands of American troops, Marine Cpl. Steven Gill died while fighting in the war on Iraq.
He could soon have a local post office named in his honor if the Senate and then President Bush approve.
Last week, U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, proposed a bill to rename the post office on Sam Bass Road after Gill, who was killed in Iraq two years ago.
The resolution passed unanimously and is making its way through the Senate.
Gill's mother, Rose Camero-Gill, said her 24-year-old son was one of the first troops from Round Rock to die in Iraq. Gill was killed July 21, 2005, during his first tour in Zaidon by an improvised explosive device while he was inspecting a vehicle.
Camero-Gill said she wrote Carter asking him to name a post office after her son, who graduated from Westwood High School.
"I didn't know he would name the post office that is so close to home after him. I was in disbelief and am ecstatic that this is happening," she said.
Gill's father, Bill Gill, lives in Austin and is a retired Marine. Gill said his son had wanted to be a Marine since he was 9 years old but wanted to wait until after college to join.
That changed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The following January, he enlisted and was assigned to his father's old battalion in San Antonio.
Bill Gill said his son enjoyed Korean martial arts and received several national awards for sword and dance performance.
He also went on mission trips with his Lutheran church in Round Rock.
Carter said he was moved by Camero-Gill's determination and took up her suggestion after they met while running the Marine Corps marathon in Washington in 2005.
"The events of September 11th moved Corporal Gill to take up arms to defend his country," Carter said. "This is a small tribute to a hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice for his country."
There are a few post offices in the area dedicated to soldiers. In Pflugerville, a post office was renamed for Sgt. Byron Norwood, 25, who was killed on a 2004 mission to rescue wounded Marines trapped in a house in Fallujah.
In Austin, a post office was named for Sgt. Henry Ybarra III, 32, who was killed in Iraq in 2003 when a tire he was changing on a cargo truck exploded.
ivail@statesman.com; 246-0053
Ellie