Reese’s peanut butter cups, a full-sized American flag, a blue teddy bear, bouquets of flowers and a note scrawled with a purple crayon were piled around the simple white headstone of a Marine from Parker.
“Thank you for helping us and saving us,” the unsigned message from a child said in tribute to , who, along with his canine, Flex, died May 4, 2013, in Afghanistan’s Farah province.
The colorful collage left at Sonka’s burial plot on Memorial Day at Fort Logan National Cemetery helped paint a personal picture of a man who died at 23 while serving his country.
Gov. John Hickenlooper shared similar stories in a speech during a ceremony Monday at the cemetery.
During his administration, Hickenlooper said he has had the honor of attending the funerals of soldiers killed during the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. He always meets their spouses, children and parents so he can learn about their stories, hopes and dreams.
Hickenlooper encouraged people to take time to contemplate the personal lives of those warriors who gave their all for their country.
“I try to put myself in the trenches and on planes with them,” he said while surrounded by thousands of white crosses.
During the service, a band played the songs of the different military branches. When two jets roared overhead, 9-year-old Natasha Hayword helped capture the moment by saying, “Thank you, America.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) shared the story of a special man interred at Fort Logan — his father, Master Sgt. Harold J. Coffman.
The elder Coffman was so determined to go to war that he fudged his age twice so he could enlist during World War II. Harold Coffman joined the Navy at 15 and became a torpedo gunner in 1943. When his mother ratted on him, he was promptly booted from the Navy.
Harold Coffman joined the Army a year later and at age 16 found himself fighting Germans in Belgium during the bloody Battle of the Bulge in 1944. The decorated soldier returned home with a Purple Heart, a Silver Star and four Bronze Stars.
Like his father, serving in just one branch of the military was not enough for Coffman. He served in the Army and then the Marines.
Coffman recalled the names of several fellow Marines who were killed Oct. 23, 1983, during a terrorist bombing attack in Beirut and shared stories that illustrated their personalities.
They included Roy Edwards, a fearless Marine who refused to go to a dentist until ordered to do so by his sergeant. Coffman urged the crowd also to remember those who died during training accidents.
“For those of us who served and lost friends it’s like family,” Coffman said. “As long as the American people remember the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, our nation will always be great.”
