Yakima memorial honors Valley troops who died fighting in Iraq

[darrels joy]

Yakima memorial honors Valley troops who died fighting in Iraq
By ERIN SNELGROVE
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC


SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic

Richard Peters, a staff sergeant with the Army's 737th Transportation Company, hugs wife Angie Peters and daughters Cora (7, left) and Hannah (9, right) after the dedication of a memorial in Yakima to Valley troops killed in the Iraq war. "We're just lucky he came back," Angie Peters says of her husband.

Army Sgt. Richard Peters of Yakima is thankful for each day.
He served in Iraq in 2004. His truck hit a roadside bomb. He was injured, but he survived.

Now, when he stares at the new War on Terrorism memorial in downtown Yakima, he can't help but cry. Those servicemen, he said, died to protect freedom. They are the true heroes.

"It makes me thankful," said Peters, a married father of two young daughters. "They gave the ultimate sacrifice. I'm just thankful that other people recognize it."

Peters was one of more than 200 people who attended a dedication ceremony Monday night in downtown Yakima. The ceremony's purpose was to honor six soldiers and Marines who died while fighting in Iraq.

Few words were spoken at the ceremony. But people prayed quietly. They hugged one another, leaned on each other, cried together. For them, seeing the strong showing of community support was enough.

"I can not believe how this went together, how smoothly it went," said Del Miles, step-
father of Marine Sgt. Jason Cook, who died nearly two years ago in Iraq. "I'm amazed. I'm proud to be a member of this community."

SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic

Don Webber helps hold down a sheet of paper while his sister-in-law, Nancy Sides, makes a rubbing of her stepson's name. Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin L. Sides is one of the local names on the new war memorial in Yakima.

Susan Whitman and Nancy Sides agree. Whitman lost her son-in-law, Army Staff Sgt. Kyle Eggers, and Sides lost her stepson, Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin L. Sides.

Through the memorial, the women say, their loved ones will always be remembered.

"I hope when people see it, it brings a reality to them," Sides said about the servicemen. "It's a statue that all the guys would have liked having here."

SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic

A memorial to local military personnel who died in the Iraq war was dedicated Monday at the small park at the corner of South Second Street and Yakima Avenue in Yakima.

The War on Terrorism memorial consists of a standing rifle, with a helmet on top and combat boots at the base. It's styled after the memorial typically posted in the field by a fallen member's unit.

The memorial stands in the city-owned park at South Second Street and Yakima Avenue across from the Larson Building.

Included are the names of the six casualties with ties to the Yakima Valley: Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin L. Sides, 22, Yakima; Marine Sgt. Jason Cook, 25, Okanogan; Marine Sgt. Yadir G. Reynoso, 27, Wapato; Marine Staff Sgt. Marvin Best, 33, Prosser; Army Staff Sgt. Kyle Eggers, 27, Yakima; and Army Sgt. 1st Class Lawrence Morrison, 45, Terrace Heights.

Businesses and private parties paid most the memorial's cost, estimated at between $8,000 and $9,000. The memorial's design allows for the addition of other names.


* Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 577-7684 or at esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com.

[Jerry D]

may god bless them all Thanks for posting about the dedication.