Memorial Service for HN3 Zachary Alday

[8404]

HN3 Zachary Alday was killed on June 9, 2006 in the Al Anbar Province. The PGR was not able to attend his service on June 19, 2006, however there will be a service where Zach will be honored on October 6, 2007 at the Seminole County Elementary School on Highway 91 in Donalsonville, GA beginning at 5:30.

The parents of Zachary Alday have invited all the PGR members attending to a barbecue to thank them for honoring their son.

Staging information will be posted soon.

My son attended FMTB with HN Alday!

http://www.patriotguard.org/Forums/tabid/61/postid/647742/view/topic/Default.aspx

[Theonecalleddoc]

I first met Zach at Camp Pendelton Naval Hospital where we were both waiting to go to Field Med. We weren't friends really, he was just a guy I knew. I think the only time we really talked was the 4th of July and that was just small talk to pass the time. I remember in Field Med our class leader would shout "Hurry the F*** up! We don't have all day!" and some of us would reply "Yeah we do! He's standing right here!" it was a dumb joke i know but it got us some chuckles. After Field Med I went to 5th Marines and he went with the 7th Marines (I think). A couple of months pasted and in that time I had been deployed to Fallujah with RCT 5. About 3 more months and I was working with an EOD team out of Habbania (or how ever its spelt), I had seen some "stuff" by that time but nothing that really stuck with me. Around August i picked up my first Navy Times since i had been in country and saw the first thing that really ever scared me in Iraq. Until the point when I saw his name in the list of recent deaths, the whole thing didnt feel "real" to me. Before that time they were all just a bunch of names to me. Not his, his name had a face with it, his name had a voice with it, it had a memory with it. His death made me realize for the first time in my young and dumb life that these names weren't just names, they were my brothers.

I'm not good with writen word, as you have probably seen by now.

Even though were weren't friends and even though he was "just a guy I knew", Aldays death had a huge impact on my life. I might not have really "known" him but I sure as hell will never forget him.

God bless your soul Zachary Alday and God bless your family.

[8404]

Doc:

I believe you know my son, he attended FMSS (now FMTB) with Doc Alday. The news affected my son, the same as it did you. The news of his passing hit him like a ton of bricks.

You have expressed yourself in written word very well! I had to laugh at the "We don't have all day!" and you guys said, "Yeah we do, he's standing right here". Doc Alday always made people laugh and was an incredible guy with a good heart. He would of wanted you and others to remember him with a little humor.

Semper Fi Doc and God Bless you son!