Have We Let the Deaths of First Responders and Service Members Slip Our Minds?
West Hartford’s own police department suffered a tragic loss in May 2021. Sgt. Christopher Tyler passed away after his long fight with brain cancer. Just last week on March 18, 2022, Rocky Hill’s Fire Captain, and Army Veteran, James Lamarre was laid to rest after months of fighting work-related cancer.
Last August, 13 American soldiers were murdered in Afghanistan: David Espinoza, Nicole Gee, Darin Taylor Hoover, Ryan Knauss, Hunter Lopez, Rylee McCollum, Dylan Merola, Kareem Nikoui, Daegan William-Tyeler Page, Johanny Rosario, Humberto Sanchez, Jared Schmitz, and Max Soviak. These names were in the news for about a week then slowly forgotten and not recognized since.
As a community, we should do better to honor these heroes, not just by lowering the flags to half-mast but by talking about these brave men and women during announcements.
