A crowd of about 200 attended the unveiling of a new statue at the Jamestown Civic Center to honor three members of the military who died in combat.
The statue, made possible by donations from the North Dakota Patriot Guard and North Dakota Heroes Foundation, is a battle cross, a bronze piece showing combat boots, a rifle and helmet.
The statue will have three plaques attacheched to its base honoring three men who died in combat:
* Army Spc. Paul Beyer, Jamestown, 21, was killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006. Beyer, son of Scott and Jillene (Seibert) Beyer, was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and moved to Jamestown with his family when he was four. He enlisted in the United States Army and graduated from basic training in July of 2005. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, KY. He was deployed to Iraq in October of 2005 and was serving near Baghdad, Iraq at the time of his death.
* Spc. Philip Dorman Brown, 21, was killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004. Brown, son of Richard Dorman and Deidra (Stellar) Brown, was born in Jamestown. He was a fourth generation soldier to serve in the U.S. military, a fourth generation member of the Jamestown Elks Lodge 995 and a third generation student at Jamestown College. He was a specialist with the North Dakota National Guard’s 141st Engineer Combat Battalion.
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* Major Alan Johnson, 44, was killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006. Johnson began his 23-year career with the Army National Guard in Jamestown. He was deployed to Iraq in 2006 with the 402nd CA Battalion in support of the Global War on Terrorism. During his career, he was honored with two Army Commendation Medals, the Army Achievement Medal, six Army Reserve Components Achievement Medals, two National Defense Service Medals, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with silver “hourglass” device (20 years) and an “M” device (mobilization) Army Service Ribbon, a pistol qualification badge, the North Dakota National Guard Basic Training Ribbon, the National Guard 20-year Service Ribbon and the Washington State Disaster Relief Ribbon.
U.S. Sen. John Hoever, R-N.D., Jamestown Mayor Katie Andersen and North Dakota Patroit Guard Captain Jim Avard spoke during the ceremony. Members of Beyer's, Brown's and Johnson's families placed temporary plaques at the base of the statue as part of the ceremony.
