Honoring a hometown hero

By Carrie A. Mizell

On what would have been his 31st birthday, 200 people gathered to honor Marine Sgt. Ricky Lord, Jr. as a portion of State Road 26 was named ‘Sergeant Ricky Lord Memorial Highway.’
The crowd varied from friends, family and former Marines, to politicians and perfect strangers. On Friday, the group shared tears and a deep sense of gratitude to the Gilchrist County native for making the ultimate sacrifice for his country.
In 2004, Lord was killed just 10 days before his 25th birthday, while serving in Iraq.
Tears rolled down the face of Lord’s mother, Karen Latham, as she said she misses her son every second of every day.
“Today is very bittersweet,” Latham said.
Lord’s mother went on to say that she is very proud that a road marker bearing her son’s name will stand on State Road 26 for everyone driving in and out of the county to see and remember Ricky.

“Ricky was an awesome man,” Latham said. “And I am so proud to be his momma!”

Karen Latham, mother of Ricky Lord, thanked the crowd for honoring her son’s memory.

State Representative Debbie Boyd sponsored House Bill 321 to have a portion of Veterans Memorial Highway (State Road 26) from the Levy County line in Fanning Springs to County Road 313 designated as ‘Sergeant Ricky Lord Memorial Highway’ during the 2010 legislative session.
“This was an opportunity that really touched my heart,” Boyd said. “For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste that we will never know.”

Sgt. Ricky Lord’s 6-year-old son, Brody led the pledge.

State Senator Steve Oelrich, who sponsored the bill in the Florida Senate, said he feels a special kinship with the Lord family. Like Lord, Oelrich’s son Ken joined the Marines shortly after high school and served in Iraq.
“The difference is my son walked off that airplane,” Oelrich said.
Having lost his son Nick at the age of 18, Oelrich also knows what it feels like to lose a child and fear that people will forget him.
“This [sign] is keeping Ricky Lord alive,” Oelrich said. “People passing in and out of the county he called home will see the sign and remember the sacrifice he made. However brief his life was, it was meaningful.”
At the ceremony, a sign was also dedicated acknowledging State Road 26 from the Alachua County line to the Levy County line as Veterans Memorial Highway.
Oelrich, Boyd, County Commission Chairman D. Ray Harrison, Jr. and Gilchrist County Historical Society President Murph Everett unveiled the sign.
When it was time to unveil Ricky Lord’s sign, a group of Marines who served with Lord gathered around his family to pull the black fabric away as the crowd cheered.
The ceremony ended shortly after the crowd spontaneously broke out in a boisterous rendition of “The Marines’ Hymn.”