thedrifter
05-06-09, 06:24 AM
Marine Corps Hometown Heroes Billboard
The U.S. Marines have made local hero, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Kennedy, the poster person for the Corps' proud tradition of service. Putting his face on a billboard above Route 224 in Boardman.
It's one of 20 billboards across the country to feature these hometown heroes-- in hopes more brave men and women will serve.
"Within the last three years the Marine Corps has gone from 175,000, and we're going to 202,000. You would think that getting an additional 27,000 folks in a nation this large to join the Marine Corps is an easy matter, well it's really not", says Lt. Col. Brian Kennedy.
So recruiters point to people like Kennedy-- born in Youngstown, he graduated from Poland High School in 1984, and attended Ohio State University.
Kennedy served in Haiti and Bosnia before doing two tours of duty piloting the AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He's logged more than 3,000 hours in military aircraft, and is one of seven Marines to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, with a "V" for valor, during combat in Iraq.
"You're out there shooting....To neutralize enemy position so that the Marines can continue to do what they need to do on the ground", explains Lt. Col. Kennedy.
Kennedy is still on active duty, serving at Camp Pendleton, California. But now he'll also serve as a reminder to friends, family, and anyone who passes by the billboard-- of a humble hero who simply does his job.
"It's almost a little bit surreal when you pass by, you know, I'm used to seeing him in person, I'm not used to seeing him up on a billboard", says Eric Kennedy, Brian's nephew.
"Marines by their very nature are extraordinary individuals. So if they're all extraordinary, we become ordinary to one another", adds Lt. Col. Kennedy.
Ellie
The U.S. Marines have made local hero, Lieutenant Colonel Brian Kennedy, the poster person for the Corps' proud tradition of service. Putting his face on a billboard above Route 224 in Boardman.
It's one of 20 billboards across the country to feature these hometown heroes-- in hopes more brave men and women will serve.
"Within the last three years the Marine Corps has gone from 175,000, and we're going to 202,000. You would think that getting an additional 27,000 folks in a nation this large to join the Marine Corps is an easy matter, well it's really not", says Lt. Col. Brian Kennedy.
So recruiters point to people like Kennedy-- born in Youngstown, he graduated from Poland High School in 1984, and attended Ohio State University.
Kennedy served in Haiti and Bosnia before doing two tours of duty piloting the AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He's logged more than 3,000 hours in military aircraft, and is one of seven Marines to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, with a "V" for valor, during combat in Iraq.
"You're out there shooting....To neutralize enemy position so that the Marines can continue to do what they need to do on the ground", explains Lt. Col. Kennedy.
Kennedy is still on active duty, serving at Camp Pendleton, California. But now he'll also serve as a reminder to friends, family, and anyone who passes by the billboard-- of a humble hero who simply does his job.
"It's almost a little bit surreal when you pass by, you know, I'm used to seeing him in person, I'm not used to seeing him up on a billboard", says Eric Kennedy, Brian's nephew.
"Marines by their very nature are extraordinary individuals. So if they're all extraordinary, we become ordinary to one another", adds Lt. Col. Kennedy.
Ellie