Private First Class John F. Landry Jr. Added to Hall of Honor at Lowell Memorial Auditorium

InsideLowell reported that a plaque dedication ceremony was held at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium by Steven C. Panagiotakos, honoring local service members who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. According to the reporting, one thousand two hundred seventy-eight Lowellians lost their lives for freedom across multiple conflicts in American history.

The historical toll detailed during the ceremony includes six hundred forty-six lives lost during the Civil War, thirty-two lives lost in the Spanish American War, one hundred eleven lives lost in WWI, and four hundred thirty-six lives lost in WWII. Additionally, the community lost thirty-one lives during Korea, twenty lives lost in Vietnam, one life lost in the Persian Gulf War, and one life lost during Iraqi Freedom.

During the ceremony, Steven C. Panagiotakos added Private First Class John F. Landry Jr. to the hall of honor. John grew up in the Highlands with parents John and Pamela and sister Brittney. John F. Landry Jr. attended Lowell Catholic and played football and basketball before serving his country. Later, John F. Landry Jr. was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas as Private First Class. On March seventeen, two thousand seven, the vehicle of John F. Landry Jr. was struck by a roadside bomb. John F. Landry Jr. died at age twenty.

Reflecting on the heavy price paid by service members, "It is fitting that the deeds of our patriotic dead should be properly remembered and there should be raised in their honor a memorial that will not only commemorate in a worthy manner their patriotism and valor, but that will also endure as a perpetual inspiration to the highest, purest and most heroic service in support of our constitution and our glorious freedom which it guarantees," stated The Lowell Sun editorial obtained by InsideLowell.

Further emphasizing the profound loss carried by families and communities, President Ronald Reagan told InsideLowell, "But most of them were boys when they died. They gave up two lives, the one that they were living and the one that they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands, and fathers, and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is to remember."