Gold Star ceremony Sunday honors military families

The fifth annual Gold Star Mothers and Family Luminary event is Sunday at the Gold Star Family Memorial Monument on the grounds of the Northern Nevada State Veterans home, 36 Battle Born Way in Sparks.

The ceremony at begins at 6 p.m., along with a reading of the Gold Star Mother and Family Proclamation and Luminary placement. The event is free.

John Galloway, director of the USS Nevada Project, has joined others in the community to remember loved ones killed in service to their country. Jon Yuspa and David Sousa, members of Honor Flight Nevada and the Nevada Gold Star Memorial Foundation, formulated an idea for a Gold Star memorial in Northern Nevada more than six years ago.

The inspiration came from those who lost loved ones, including Steve Ward, whose son Eric, a fifth-generation Marine, died in combat in Afghanistan on Feb. 21, 2010, and is interred at Arlington National Cemetery. As a father who lost a child, Ward knows the importance of healing and sharing.

As part of this year’s rollout of the Battle Born Shield in late August, University of Nevada football players and coaches were introduced to Virginia resident Terri Dunn-Campbell, who also had a son in the Marines. A sniper killed her 19-year-old son in Afghanistan on Feb. 18, 2010.

“Every day is Memorial Day for Gold Star families,” she said. "We can never allow our fallen to be forgotten."

Marine Lance Cpl. Kielin Dunn died three days before Ward’s son lost his life. Dunn was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Ward was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment.

Dunn-Campbell said her son took the place of a fellow Marine as his battalion drove into a Taliban stronghold near Marjah in southern Afghanistan.

“Being on a deployment and being that person out front, he was inclined to fight to the very last breath,” she said. “He was killed by a sniper.”

Courtesy Nevada Athletics

The mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Kielin Dunn, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, wrote a letter to University of Nevada, Reno head football coach Jeff Choate. She also included a photo of her son and his Purple Heart, which he received posthumously.

 

In battle, Dunn’s weapon jammed while returning fire.

The Gold Star mother wants others to remember her son’s laughing and smiling regardless of the situation. The young Marine wanted others to feel better.

Dunn was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and also had earned the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and NATO International Security Assistance Force Medal.

Galloway said Nevada football coach Jeff Choate saw the importance of the shield and sacrifice.

Galloway said Choate saw the importance of the shield and sacrifice. He noted the coach’s passion for honoring veterans as demonstrated by former governor and current university President Brian Sandoval and Athletic Director Stephanie Rempe. Galloway said the timing was good because the university opened its doors in Elko in 1874, a decade after Nevada, which became known as the Battle Born state, was admitted to the union. 

Campbell learned much about Choate and the university program before she sent the letter to the first-year coach.

“I shared many of my stories, and John was a catalyst to the coach,” she said. “I learned more about coach from John, and I did my own research.

Campbell said Galloway’s passion and Choate’s values and principles impressed her. She is more than happy to help the public understand the meaning behind the Gold Star family.

Choate reflected on service and sacrifice.

“The pride they (families) take in knowing their loved ones laid down their lives for their country represent what I will always walk away with,” he said.

Marine Lance Cpl. Kielin Dunn

 

During practice, Choate read a letter from Dunn-Campbell and showed the players the Marine’s Purple Heart.

“When John Galloway sought permission from me and my husband Gary to engrave a special dedication to Kielin on the reverse side of the Battle Born Shield, we were of course, extremely honored, and humbled, but also curious to why, of the hundreds of thousands of fallen military persons and first responders he chose Kielen.”

Galloway had previously told Dunn-Campbell the motto for the university is Omnia Pro Patria, “All For Our Country.” He told the family they are the embodiment of the motto, referring to President Abraham Lincoln’s reference to wounded soldiers, fallen warriors, active-duty soldiers and veterans.

Dunn-Campbell, the wife of a U.S. Air Force veteran, and the mother of three — an active duty Air Force pilot, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and a Gold Star mother — continued her comments in the letter, which is displayed in a frame with other memorabilia related to her son on a wall near the football room.

“The shield itself means to give everything you have. So tell your players that when they tap the Battle Born Shield, that is exactly what they must do, every time; give everything they have; on the football field, in the classroom, to the community, and throughout life.”

Choate said her words are a salute to the military but also to life.

“It is very fitting, and it’s a great honor we honor them and remind our players and ourselves (that) every day when we walk by it, that this is way bigger than football and that these people made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Steve Ranson/NNG

A student holds the Battle Born shield before the Nevada-Eastern Washington football game on Sept. 21.