Veteran's name added to memorial

When Nathan Robert Maxwell was a young boy, he would play Army, telling his mom he just wanted to be one of the best.

Maxwell, a 2004 graduate of Jefferson City High School, was the 82nd name added to the Veterans Memorial in the Marving Fleming Fieldhouse.

A small crowd gathered to honor Maxwell, who died in Jefferson City on June 15 of this year.

"Although you are suffering a great loss, your son has done a great deal for us, for our country," said Marc Ellinger, Cole County commissioner. "A great sacrifice was made, and it means a great deal to those who get to enjoy the freedoms he and others worked so hard to defend."

The wall originally dedicated in June 2008 has had only one name added since then, and it is Maxwell's.

"In an ideal world, we would not have to add another name to this wall," Ellinger continued. "In an ideal world, the monumentous sacrifices of those before us would be enough."

Debra Skouby, Maxwell's mom, said her son thought long and hard about joining the Marine Corps before his enlistment with the reserves.

He was in the midst of attending college, majoring in business, and decided to join "the best," Skouby said. "He also liked the fact that it would help his dream of completing college come true. But he just kept telling us he wanted to be one of the best and that is why he joined the Marines."

He served in Iraq, returning in February of this year with the rank of corporal.

State Sen. Carl Vogel spoke to the crowd, and in closing read the oath that Maxwell took upon joining the Marine Corps, and presented Skouby with a proclamation from the Missouri Senate.

"These are young boys and girls who enlist. They are teens - someone's boys and girls - and we send them off to the military. They are trained as soldiers and learn life lessons. Through their training and service, they become men and women who, when they return, are our heroes," Vogel said. "So to this family who is sad for their loss, I present this and say thank you from a grateful nation. Cpl. Nathan Robert Maxwell, you have fulfilled your command."