68°
AUBURN, Mass. – The Maj. David Brodeur 5K road race was a great success this past weekend in Auburn. And now, the memorial foundation is looking to make next year’s festivities an even bigger, weekend-long affair.
Tim Morse, president of the Maj. David Brodeur Memorial Foundation, said he would like to combine next year’s race with unveiling the Brodeur memorial at the high school.
“We’re really going to try our best to have the memorial completed by a year from now, so we can tie in the 5K and the memorial dedication in the same weekend,” Morse said. “We want to make it a whole weekend about Dave.
“It’s a lofty goal,” Morse added. “A year is not a long period of time to get something like that done, so we’ll see what happens.”
More than 400 runners and walkers honored Brodeur on Sunday at the second annual “Klepto” 5K to benefit the Maj. David Brodeur Memorial Foundation; Brodeur's family also flew in from Colorado to lead the well-attended road race.
The annual event honors Brodeur, an Auburn native and military hero who died in Afghanistan last year while serving with the U.S. Air Force. The money raised at the race will provide grants to Auburn High School students in academics, athletics and extracurricular activities.
In August, the School Committee voted to dedicate part of the high school’s property as a Brodeur square and monument. The committee voted to name part of the rear area of the high school “Major David Brodeur Square” or “Way.” Although the Major David Brodeur Foundation was hoping for a renaming of the school, it accepted this decision.
“Our next step is to submit a design to the School Committee and have them vote on it,” Morse said. “Once they approve it, we’ll start talking to contractors, so we can make the memorial a reality.”
The cost of the monument and marker could range from $250 to $2,500, which will be the foundation’s responsibility. Morse said future fundraising events will help fund the project.
Brodeur, a 1994 graduate of Auburn High School, died April 27, 2011, in Kabul, Afghanistan, at the age of 34. Brodeur was an experienced F-16 pilot and instructor with deployments to Iraq, where he flew combat missions during the initial days and months of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal and Combat Action Medal, among others.
Comments