Marine Corps News Room

http://www.connpost.com/localnews/ci_5942251

AARON LEO
Article Last Updated: 05/20/2007

But the 21-year-old leader of Charlie Co. 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, stayed to look after his men.

"He was killed a few days later on a foot patrol he volunteered for," his father, Eric Pierson, said Saturday, after the park where Jordan played as a boy was named after him.

The park borders Pierson's backyard, where a Marine flag hung over a fence and children bounced on a trampoline and played baseball.

As friends and colleagues recalled fond memories of the fallen Marine, children scampered around the swing set and jungle gym.

The men of Jordan's company also attended, standing at attention for most of the ceremony in short sleeves in a chilly spring wind.

The dedication culminated in the unveiling a plaque to be placed in the park, quoting the Gospel of John: "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

"Who would you give up your life for?" Eric Pierson asked the standing-room-only crowd.

Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. opened the ceremony.

"What a perfect way to memorialize a young man who grew up in the backyard of this playground," he said.

"Whether you agree with the war, what matters is the men and woman who serve us," he said.

The Joseph A. Foran High School alumnus was killed preventing war from coming to United States soil, the speakers said.

"That's what he gave his life for, to protect each and every one of us," the mayor said.

Pierson inspired his friend, Michael Amendola.

"He will forever be in my heart as my MVP," Amendola said.

After his friend's death, "I can understand that life is very precious," he said. "Losing my best friend has been the biggest struggle I have faced in my life."

He urged the crowd to live on their own terms but to help others.

Pierson's death touched his close friend and neighbor, Samantha Vargo. He would call her and send her cards and letters from Iraq, she said. Pierson was a friend and classmate of her brother, Mark, who joined the Marines but couldn't ship out to Iraq due to a medical condition.

"I think it's wonderful that it's named after him," she said.

Three of Pierson's charges in Iraq, some older than he was, remembered him as an inspiration and a brave leader who would run without cover through dangerous areas for his men.

"He was five years younger than me. He was my boss. But he was my big brother," said Lance Cpl. Rad Smolinski.

"He was always there to be a friend," said Lance Cpl. Jay Cooling. Both Stars Wars fans, Cooling and Pierson would have mock lightsaber duels with frozen fruit juice sticks.

"If I had a blue one and he had a yellow one, we couldn't help but have a lightsaber fight," Cooling said.

Lance Cpl. Nick Lambert said Pierson was supervising men twice his age while he had half their experience.

"Jordan thrived as a leader," Lambert said.

He recalled a grenade attack in which Pierson was hit by shrapnel but got up and charged back into battle.

"He wanted to get the guy that hurt his Marines," Lambert said.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War, said troops should be honored for their sacrifices during and after battles.

Vietnam veterans "had to endure insults or threats. We owe our military men and women unconditional support abroad and home," including in education, jobs and health care, he said.

Richetelli reminded the crowd to remember all armed service men and woman on Memorial Day on May 28. Eric Pierson will speak following the city's parade May 27.

The mayor thanked more than a dozen people and groups for helping make the park a reality, including city departments, individual donors and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7788 in Devon.

Aaron Leo, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6222.