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  • Brent Loyd pauses at the Woodlawn Veterans Monument on Tuesday afternoon to honor his friend Lance Cpl. Jonathan Kyle Price, who was killed Friday in Iraq while shielding Marine engineers from enemy gunfire. Mary Kaye Davis/Register-News

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  • Kyle Price, left, and close friend Brent Loyd at their Woodlawn High School graduation in 2004.

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January 18, 2006

‘This is a way to honor Kyle’s sacrifice ...’

His friend gave all

By MARY KAYE DAVIS

mary.kaye@register-news.com

WOODLAWN — As friends Jonathan Kyle Price and Brent Loyd stood at the site of the World Trade Center attack of Sept. 11, 2001, they remained silent. Their normal chitchat was replaced by awe of the devastation of the terrorist attack.

Little did they know that someday Price would die for his country to stop such an attack from happening again. Price was killed Friday near Ramadi, Iraq, while shielding Marine engineers from the enemy.

Later this month, Loyd will be putting his life on the line for his country as well. He is joining the Navy as a corpsman with the Marines, eying a spot on the Special Forces team.

One would think that having a good friend die while fighting the war in Iraq would put doubts and fear in one’s mind. Loyd said his friend’s death has only made his soul and his promise to fight for his country stronger.

“Backing out now has never, ever entered my mind,” Loyd said Tuesday afternoon. “This is a way to honor Kyle’s sacrifice so that we can live in the home of the free and the home of the brave. I am going to try and bring that spirit around the world.”

Price and Loyd, both 2004 graduates of Woodlawn High School, had been friends since they were young and were involved in many of the same activities, including car-pooling every Saturday to participate in the Heartland Young Marines.

“I was always either at his house, he was at my house or we were at another buddy’s house,” Loyd recalled, braving Tuesday afternoon’s bitter cold winds to videotape memorial signs in Woodlawn paying tribute to his fallen friend. “He was so much fun to be around, and he would do anything for anybody.”

As members of the Heartland Young Marines, Price and Loyd excelled, earning a trip to the 9-11 site in New York City and to Washington, D.C., to hear lectures by top military leaders.

“We’d always talked about joining the Young Marines, and when I told him I’d decided to do it, he said he would, too,” Loyd said.

The last time he saw Price was at the soldier’s going-away party in August, Loyd said.

“The fact he might not come home was never dwelled upon,” Loyd said. “That was something that just went unsaid. He always knew in his heart that was a possibility, but he also knew that if he died, he would die for his country and for freedom.”

And Loyd said he’ll always remember his last conversation with Price.

“He said he’d try and come up for my (basic training) graduation. Little did I know that a week later, I’d find out that he passed away.”

Price’s death has had an impact on Loyd.

“Right now, looking at this Veterans Memorial, it just all comes into focus, seeing all these names,” Loyd said. “I truly believe in preserving freedom, and I am thankful I live in a country where we have freedoms. There are places I wouldn’t be able to walk around and carry a video camera. There are places where people are killed for their beliefs.

“That’s why Kyle was there — to make the world a better place. He wanted to give hope to those who didn’t have hope. If I walked away from becoming a member of the military, I wouldn’t be honoring Kyle.

“Kyle’s death has made me appreciate that every single moment is important in a person’s life.”

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National Guard Staff Sgt. Chris Heiken, who is also a Mt. Vernon Fire Department firefighter, shows his fellow firefighters the specs on a military tactical fire fighting truck like the one he will use when he is deployed to Afghanistan. Heiken and two other soldiers traveled to seven fire stations on Tuesday to show the truck.

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