The Manhasset American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary held a vigil in Mary Jane Davies Green, on Aug. 31, to honor the 13 service men and women killed in Afghanistan.
“There is no higher sacrifice than that made by these young men and women,” Patricia O’Brien, president of the American Legion Auxiliary, said via email.
The service was solemn with more than 100 people showing up to the park, bowing their heads as the melancholy TAPS pierced the silence of the people gathered there that evening. After some words from leaders of the local American Legion and American Legion Auxilary, O’Brien read the names aloud of the 13 service men and women who died in Afghanistan from a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan that also left 169 citizens of Afghanistan dead.
With each name of a service member read aloud, followed by the ringing of a bell, a flag was placed around the memorial that stands in Mary Jane Davies Green.
(Photo by Jennifer Corr)
The names of the 13 service men and women who perished
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah
Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.
Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, Calif.
Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22,
of Indio, Calif.
Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Neb.
Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Ind.
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Mo.
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyo.
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, Calif.
Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio.
Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tenn.
—Information provided by U.S. Department of Defense
