Gysgt John D. Fry, USMC
I’m sorry but I did not know you, we never met. I do not know anyone in your family, nor have I met your wife nor anyone in her family nor your children. And yet I’ve thought about you each and every day since sometime in June 2006.
It was sometime in May of that year that I learned about an organization called In Our Hearts. I sent them a small donation and in return I received a black bracelet with your name on it. It’s called a “Remembrance Bracelet”. I’ve worn it every day since.
Thanks to the Internet, I was able to learn a little about you, your life as a Marine with the 8th Engineer Battalion and a little bit about your wife and your 3 children.
I was able to learn about the way you give your life in Iraq so that others may be free. You have honored your family, the Marine Corps, and this country we shared. And so I honor you each day by wearing a bracelet with your name on it so that I will never forget the sacrifice you and others made for me.
When others ask about my bracelet, I tell them very briefly, where I got it but then, I go on to tell them as much as I can about a young Marine named John D. Fry and his sacrifice and those that he left behind. I tell them that I wear this bracelet to remind me of what young men and women just like you have done and are continuing to do, so that I can live in this country without fear.
I’m sorry but I did not know you, we never met and yet I think of you each day. I just wish I could tell you in person, “thank you” for all the things you’ve done for our country and me.