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Two roads, 2 paths of honor
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Location: Blogs Now We're Talking |
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| Posted by: Joe Byrnes |
2/22/2007 4:17 PM |
What's in a name?
In this case, two names signify just a little bit of the honor and recognition due two young Marion County men who gave their lives for their country.
In January, the County Commission designated County Road 42 from Pedro to Weirsdale as the Robert E. Blair Memorial Highway. Blair's parents, Allen and Karen Blair, had requested it.
"This would be a great honor as our son grew up and lived right on Highway 42," they wrote to the commission.
The family has a long history along the highway. Blair's great-great-grandfather ran a grocery at CR 42 and County Road 25 in the 1930s and '40s.
On May 25, 2006, the U.S. Army specialist was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
"As Robert grew up in the area and is well-known and respected by many residents, who still reside along the highway, we feel this [should be] deemed appropriate," his parents wrote.
The commission on Tuesday approved another memorial designation, renaming County Road 329 from North U.S. 441 to Old Jacksonville Road in honor of Staff Sgt. Chad W. Lake.
"Chad was deployed to Iraq three times in his Army career," wrote his mother, Debbie Farr, in a letter to commissioners. "He was deeply loved and respected by all who knew him. He was a loving son, a caring brother, a devoted uncle and an honorable soldier."
Lake was killed on Feb. 13, 2005, in Balad, Iraq, when the Humvee he was riding in flipped into a canal.
CR 329 passes in front of his alma mater, North Marion High School.
"I can't think of a more befitting request than to rename this section of highway in Chad's honor," Principal Kathy Quelland wrote in support. It will "remind all past, present and future students .Ê.Ê. of the sacrifices that Chad made and others in the military make on a daily basis to protect us as Americans, a lesson we often tend to forget."
Well said.
Joe Byrnes can be reached at joe@ocala.com or (352) 867-4112. |
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