thedrifter
11-27-07, 07:09 AM
Parents of Marine to lay wreaths at Quantico
By Cathy Dyson - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 26, 2007 10:00:46 EST
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — The parents of a Marine who died last year are trying to channel their grief into positive energy.
John and Susan McColley created the Sgt. Mac Foundation to honor their 23-year-old son, Eric, who died in February 2006, when his helicopter crashed in Africa.
The Eagle Scout had just finished his first five-year stint and planned to make the Corps a career.
On Saturday, the McColleys will be thinking about Eric — and how hard he worked to earn his flight wings — when they put a wreath on his grave at Quantico National Cemetery.
They’ll do the same for 2,000 other veterans buried there.
“It’s still very difficult for us at times,” John McColley said, “but we feel fortunate that this gives us something to do.”
The couple, who recently moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, decorated about 500 tombstones last year.
Since then, they’ve established a nonprofit foundation. For their first formal project — being part of the National Wreath Project — they asked American Legion posts in the region to help support the effort.
The McColleys needed $13,000 to buy 2,000 wreaths and bows, which Giant Food sold at cost. Each wreath costs $6.50.
The McColleys still need about $1,500.
The couple is hoping volunteers will come out at 10 a.m. Saturday to help distribute the wreaths.
Maureen North of Spotsylvania County said she wouldn’t miss it. She visits the gravesite of her husband, Richard, about twice a week.
She met the McColleys last December. She said she got chills when she saw row after row of green wreaths and red bows, set against the stark white granite stones.
“I’m telling you, it looked absolutely beautiful,” she said. “It was just breathtaking.”
The McColleys hope to do more wreaths each year, but they won’t limit their efforts to decorating.
Their next project is to get care packages to deployed Marines. Then, they want to organize day trips for the wounded.
In the future, they plan to help veterans get the medical and financial assistance they need.
All the money donated to the foundation goes toward veteran programs, the McColleys said. No one draws a salary.
John McColley, a Marine for two years, said he believes Eric would approve of the foundation, even though he might be a little embarrassed by the attention.
“He was never one to toot his own horn or anything,” his father said, “but he was always willing to help other people.”
Ellie
By Cathy Dyson - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 26, 2007 10:00:46 EST
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — The parents of a Marine who died last year are trying to channel their grief into positive energy.
John and Susan McColley created the Sgt. Mac Foundation to honor their 23-year-old son, Eric, who died in February 2006, when his helicopter crashed in Africa.
The Eagle Scout had just finished his first five-year stint and planned to make the Corps a career.
On Saturday, the McColleys will be thinking about Eric — and how hard he worked to earn his flight wings — when they put a wreath on his grave at Quantico National Cemetery.
They’ll do the same for 2,000 other veterans buried there.
“It’s still very difficult for us at times,” John McColley said, “but we feel fortunate that this gives us something to do.”
The couple, who recently moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, decorated about 500 tombstones last year.
Since then, they’ve established a nonprofit foundation. For their first formal project — being part of the National Wreath Project — they asked American Legion posts in the region to help support the effort.
The McColleys needed $13,000 to buy 2,000 wreaths and bows, which Giant Food sold at cost. Each wreath costs $6.50.
The McColleys still need about $1,500.
The couple is hoping volunteers will come out at 10 a.m. Saturday to help distribute the wreaths.
Maureen North of Spotsylvania County said she wouldn’t miss it. She visits the gravesite of her husband, Richard, about twice a week.
She met the McColleys last December. She said she got chills when she saw row after row of green wreaths and red bows, set against the stark white granite stones.
“I’m telling you, it looked absolutely beautiful,” she said. “It was just breathtaking.”
The McColleys hope to do more wreaths each year, but they won’t limit their efforts to decorating.
Their next project is to get care packages to deployed Marines. Then, they want to organize day trips for the wounded.
In the future, they plan to help veterans get the medical and financial assistance they need.
All the money donated to the foundation goes toward veteran programs, the McColleys said. No one draws a salary.
John McColley, a Marine for two years, said he believes Eric would approve of the foundation, even though he might be a little embarrassed by the attention.
“He was never one to toot his own horn or anything,” his father said, “but he was always willing to help other people.”
Ellie