Monument to Rapid River Army Corporal

Memorial Day in Delta County is even more memorable than usual this year.

A Rapid River native is honored for giving his life while deployed in Iraq.

The family of Army Corporal Joseph Micks unveiled the new Lest They Be Forgotten Memorial at the Masonville Township Park.

The monument honors all fallen soldiers from Delta County, but it particularly honors Joe Micks.

In July 2006, a roadside bomb in Ramadi, Iraq killed him at the age of 22.

Joe’s mother, Amy Micks, says she wants people who never met her son to know that he enlisted because he wanted to make the world a safer place.

She says after the events of 9/11, her son wanted to go after Osama bin Laden by himself.

A group called the Friends of Joe Committee raised $10,000 to get the memorial built.

And Amy Micks also received a surprise this morning.

She was named grand marshal of Rapid River’s Memorial Day parade.

She says the entire experience, with the work the Friends of Joe Committee has put in over the last year and a half, has been awesome.

The Friends of Joe will keep raising money to keep up the memorial.

They’re doing that with events like the 5K Run for Joe this morning.