Cypress Lake High School memorial for Corporal Thomas Jardas Video by Michael Braun
Remember the 12.
That's an important message for the family, friends, and schoolmates of Thomas Jardas, a Marine corporal and 2011 graduate of Cypress Lake High School who died in a helicopter training exercise in 2016.
On the two-year anniversary of his death Sunday, at the memorial for Jardas installed at the high school, a special gathering honored him as well as 11 of his comrades who were also killed when two Pegasus HMH-463 Sea Stallion helicopters collided off Hawaii.
"Tommy was a remarkable young man," said Adam Kurtz, an assistant principal at Cypress Lake who knew Jardas as a hardworking, helpful and dedicated student. "He was full of life and always ready to lend a hand."
Kurtz was emcee for the ceremony.
"Tommy's memorial will live on," said Beth Haely, Jardas' mother. "But today is not just about Tommy, but about the 11 others."
More: Jardas Memorial to be dedicated at Cypress Lake High
More: Woman on Hawaiian bike ride for local Marine, others who died
More: Sacrifice honored at wreath layings; Marine Jardas among tributes
In that vein, Haely was presented with the U.S. flag that has flown over the memorial for the past year and then gave the retired standard to the parents of Sgt. Dillion Semolina, who just moved to the Fort Myers area from Minnesota. She noted the close relationship Jardas and Semolina had.
In addition to honoring the 12 Marines, the gathering was also the presentation of the second scholarship from the USMC Cpl Thomas J. Jardas Scholarship Fund.
The scholarship, $1,000 this year. goes to a Cypress Lake High School student. Qualifications include being accepted into and attend accredited two- or four-year public or private institutions of higher learning, in good academic standing with at least a 3.0 grade-point average and are either a JROTC cadet, varsity swim team member or media center for the arts student.
This year's scholarship recipient was Caleb Kiss, 18, a JROTC cadet and swim team member who will be attending Norwich University in Vermont and has plans to apply for entrance into the United States Military Academy at West Point.
"It's a legacy that should be upheld,' Kiss said about the scholarship. "It is a tough standard to live up to."
The ceremony also included bagpipe and drum music by Guns n Hoses Pipes n Drums of Southwest Florida, a reading of the roll call of those who died by retired Army Maj. Gen. James Dozier and the singing of the national anthem by Cypress Lake Center for the Arts student A'Layahna Checo.
After the event, Haely and Lisa De La Cruz, Sgt. Semolina's mother, said the ceremony and the scholarship would have made their sons proud.
"It's a blessing when all these people come together and show their honor and respect for the loss, not just for our sons but for all of them," De La Cruz said. "It's Beautiful."
Healy called the experience indescribable, especially meeting everyone who has been involved since her son's death.
"For Lisa and I, our sons were friends in the Marine Corps, our sons died together, and for us to now meet each other and know each other and support each other, there's somebody who understands what its like to lose a child," Haely said.
Connect with this reporter: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook) @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter)
