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Snoqualmie Valley residents say goodbye to a fallen son

NEW — 4:40 p.m. March 13, 2010

Check back for updates and pictures online and in the March 18 issue of the SnoValley Star.

Hundreds of Snoqualmie Valley residents lined Railroad Avenue and Meadowbrook Way holding American flags beneath a cloudy sky Saturday March 13, to pay tribute to Eric Ward, a 19-year-old Marine from Redmond and Mount Si High School graduate who died Feb. 21 in Afghanistan.

Lance Cpl. Ward died in a “hostile incident” in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Feb. 23. A machine-gunner, he was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.

At Ward’s memorial in Mount Si High School’s gym, friends and family described him as a loving, generous man who could always bring a laugh to any room.

“He just made everything fun,” said Trey Hoover, a fellow Marine who was Ward’s roommate in Afghanistan. They met at boot camp.

The 19-year-old Marine recalled a 12-mile training march with 100-pound packs on. Despite the heat, Ward lightened the mood by singing Carrie Underwood’s Cowboy Casanova.

Family members asked mourners to carry Ward’s positive attitude with them in their lives.

“As you leave this room, I hope you honor Eric’s life, and then ask yourself how you’re going to honor your own,” his brother Gregory Ward said.

His father, Steven Ward, fought back tears as he paid homage to his son who followed in his footsteps by joining the Marines.

“You will never leave us,” he said.

He recalled memories of Little League and football, and visiting his son the weekend before he deployed overseas.

“Eric, you are my Marine,” he said. “You’ll always be my hero.”

Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.

Sports

Scoreboard, March 11

Prep boys basketball

Schools

Foundation honors top teachers

NEW — 9:04 a.m. March 11, 2010

Christi Wright didn’t know what to say when she learned that she had been named one of Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation’s four educators of the year.