Chris Marion Day Set Oct. 3
JROTC Students at McDonald County High School will remember one of their own on Oct. 3 at Jane Cemetery.
Special Projects Officer Levi Murray said Chris Marion Day is an event held every year by JROTC to remember a soldier and former JROTC member who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. The event will be at 8 a.m., and a continental breakfast will be served. The public is invited.
Marion was a 2005 graduate of McDonald County High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. He was killed in action on Feb. 22, 2006, while on patrol.
Major Robert Griffiths, who heads up the JROTC program at the high school, said it was his first year working at the high school when Marion died.
“I didn’t know Chris, but he was killed that February. The community hadn’t experienced this since Vietnam. (The JROTC) knew they had to do something … to honor him.”
The annual event is a cadetrun ceremony, Griffiths said. The Marion family attends. Usually, the event is held at the high school but, because of restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic, the ceremony will be held at Jane Cemetery, where Marion is buried.
Griffiths said Mark Bartley of Pineville will be the guest speaker.
Ray Villa and the Patriot Guard Riders will attend, as well as the American Legion and MCHS Principal Angie Brewer. Fliers will be distributed around the school. Attendance is not mandatory.
“We give out a special award to JROTC students that come,” Griffiths said. “Chris was a member for all four years. We wanted to have something special. Since it’s not mandatory you come, you pay your respects and we give you an award for your citizenship.”
Battalion Executive Officer Carly Jordan said, “It makes you feel good to be able to remember someone that graduated from our school and was in our program.”
Battalion Commander Missouri Griner said, “It’s a thing to be super proud of that we can honor him. It gives us something to have a lot of pride in.”
Assistant S3 Micha Looney said, “I think it’s an honor to honor someone who went to our school and fought for our freedom.”