School district to take another look at renaming field after fallen soldier
BEAVERTON, Ore. - A thwarted effort to rename part of a local stadium after a fallen soldier will be getting a second chance.
Family and friends of Pfc. Andrew Keller want to pay tribute to him by renaming Southridge High School's football field in his honor. Keller, who graduated from the school in 2008 and was the captain of the football team, died last August while serving in Afghanistan.
The problem is that the Beaverton School District has a policy that prohibits naming any facility, like a football field or auditorium, after a person.
District officials have had concerns about changing the policy but a spokesperson said this week that some of the board members will work on revising the policy and bring it up for a possible vote next month.
I live in Beaverton, and I was saddened when this young man died. Honoring him is great, but start an annual something-or-other in his name, or put a photo of him in a place of honor on a school wall. There will always be someone dieing who is worthy of honor. Should we constantly change the name of something in order to honor the most recent beloved student or teacher who has passed from us? The policy is a good one.Â
Having retired from the Army (and also bled for my country), I honor and respect his sacrifice and service. But he isn't any more or less of a hero then every other man or woman in uniform, past or present. Harm's Way comes with volunteering. Everyone in uniform knows that.
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What do they do if another football captain volunteers and gets killed? Rename the stadium again? (Keller's family will love that idea.) Or is that sacrifice somehow less because he wasn't the first?
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Large can of worms here.
Why this guy? Â He volunteered just like all the other soldiers and he's not special. Â What about the moms and dads who work 12 hours a day putting food on the table and getting their kids a better education and a leg up in life? Â Why are they honored any less? Â
Policies can be changed, along with school board members and district officials.
There were 58,000 plus killed in Vietnam, I don't think much was named after them unless there was a large amount of money donated in their name.