GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - With flags lowered to half-staff outside of Gridley’s City Hall in honor of the 13 soldiers killed in the attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, more community members have organized their own personal tributes to our nation’s fallen heroes.

The multiple tributes that have arisen throughout the Gridley area memorialize the 11 Marines, 1 Navy and 1 Army soldiers killed in the attack, which includes: Marines - Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo; 25, of Lawrence MA; Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, Sacramento, CA; Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31 Salt Lake City, UT; Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, Indio, CA; Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, Omaha, NE; Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez. 22, Logansport, IN; Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, Rio Bravo, TX; Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, St. Charles, MO; Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, Jackson, WY; Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, Rancho Cucamonga, CA; Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, Norco, CA; Navy – Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, Berlin Heights, OH; Army - Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, Corryton, TN.

A group of life-long friends from the Gridley and Biggs area, Jan Meyer, Nelda Andes, Corrine Little and Jeanine Norton, after reflecting on the attack, were moved to create a memorial for the fallen. Each of the ladies has a family member that has or is currently serving in the military and the attack resonated deeply with them.

Within a period of a few hours Tuesday morning, the four ladies had designed the memorial comprised of handmade wooden signs, decorated with the American flag and featuring the names and ranks of the 13 soldiers lost. The Gridley-Biggs Cemetery lent them 13 crosses, in which each cross was topped with the handmade signs, a cluster of red, white and blue flowers, and an American flag. A larger, more substantial wooden cross stands at the center of the memorial, topped with flags. The display was up by 1:30 pm Tuesday and is located along the east side of Highway 99 outside the Spin & Sport Club. Owners of the gym, Josh and Erica Sannar, said that they could not be more honored to have the tribute placed outside their facility.

In another poignant memorial, local Holly Woods has set up memorial tables at both the Moose Lodge lounge and Railhouse Pub & Grill in Gridley. With the help of Scotty Sewal and Sandy Adams from the Gridley UPS Store, photos of the 13 fallen service men and women were compiled into a collage and framed, with “August 2021- Remembering the 13 Fallen Soldiers & Honoring All Who Have Served” above the faces of the young men and women lost. The framed image has been set upon a table draped in the American Flag, with 13 beers left open, yet untouched, in memory of the fallen. In response to why she is doing this, Woods says, “It’s important for my children to understand our history, the sadness, and the loss. I want my children not to forget and to know what 9/11 means. Every single soldier killed was younger than my oldest child. Our country will all feel this in different ways, and unfortunately, some won’t. I refuse for my children to be the latter.”

The tables invite you to buy a round for the fallen, the crosses a reminder of the loss, just as we approach the 20^th Anniversary of 9/11, the event that brought those soldiers to Afghanistan in the first place. Another reason to never forget.