"For love of country, they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue."
- former U.S. President James A. Garfield
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We join the Mid-Missouri community in honoring a fallen soldier.
Sgt. Talon Leach, a 27-year-old native of the Fulton area, was one of the 16 military members killed last week in an airplane crash in Mississippi.
The North Callaway High School graduate has been described as someone who enjoyed his friends and music more than anything. Childhood friend Conner Louise said Leach enjoyed spending time at the Fulton skate park and always tried to make his friends happy.
"You can't ask anything more of a service member than to give your life," said Rep. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit. "We're heartbroken to hear about the news of the loss of this young man."
The military said Leach was deployed abroad last year as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, which works with regional partners against ISIS, CNN reported.
The network said Leach joined the Marines in 2010. He lived with his wife in North Carolina.
"He was definitely one to pull for the underdog. If there was a group of people and someone was picking on one kid, that was the kid he would gravitate to and stick up for," his father, Tab Leach, said.
The plane, a KC-130 refueling tanker, was based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, according to an Associated Press report. It was flying from a Marine installation at Cherry Point, North Carolina, to a naval air field at El Centro, California.
A military official told The AP no foul play was suspected, though an exact cause has not yet been determined.
In a Saturday story, we reported that Fulton residents already were "springing into action to support Leach's family."
Although no one can take away the family's pain, supporting the family is the best thing the community can do to comfort them and ease the pain.
We are proud to live among such caring people, and we hope that none of us soon forgets Leach's life, service and sacrifice.