Tribute to Fallen Soldiers, escorted by the Cornbelt Fire Department will honor Spc. Justin Owen Penrod by arriving at his wife’s home and delivering a plaque on Aug. 3.
The time for the event is still to be announced.
Each year, motorcyclists who are passionate about paying tribute to America’s fallen soldiers take 14 days to tour throughout the United States, delivering plaques to soldier’s loved ones. The Northwest branch of the Tribute to Fallen Soldiers will visit Penrod’s family.
This year’s ride escorts the Fallen Soldiers Memorial Flame from Eugene, Oregon to Arlington National Cemetery. Once the ride procession arrives into Washington D.C, the Fallen Soldiers Memorial Flame will be extinguished inside of Arlington National Cemetery on Sunday August 7, 2016.
Justin’s wife, Christina, said she is grateful for organizations such as the Tribute to Fallen Soldiers and the Sea Cadets who continued to keep Justin’s legacy alive.
Justin and Christina, Mahomet natives met when Justin came to her parents house to fix the air conditioning. He asked her out to drinks, and Christina said their relationship developed very quickly. The couple met in June 2004 and were married in November that same year.
Prior to meeting Christina, Justin enrolled in the National Guard to serve and travel the world. He was deployed on his first tour in Iraq shortly after. He served the first tour in Iraq from 2005 to 2006 with Charlie Company of the 2nd of the 130th infantry division out of Litchfield Illinois.
Christina said Justin suffered from PTSD after his first tour. He struggled with knowing other soldiers were injured or killed in Iraq and felt like there was still more work to do when he returned.
Instead of enlisting, Justin joined the Lincoln’s Challenge Program in Rantoul to help teenagers get back on course to a life of purpose. He enjoyed mentoring the young adults, but in December of 2006, his son, Colin was born at only twenty-seven weeks gestation.
While Justin would still go to work every day, Colin had several medical conditions that kept him in the hospital until February. Justin sat in the hospital and sit half the night with his son, singing to him.
Because the couple did not have insurance at Lincoln’s Challenge, Justin decided to provide for his family by enlisting in the Army, knowing the chances of him being deployed again were likely.
He returned to Iraq in 2007, serving with the 164th armor division out of Fort Stewart Georgia. Justin left for Iraq at the end of July of 2007 and was only in theater for fourteen days before he was killed with four other soldiers when an IED exploded while the group was trying to recover a soldier who had been killed by a sniper.
Christina is grateful that Colin was only 8 months old when his father returned from Iraq. She said his young age protected him from seeing protestors at his funeral in Champaign. But she also added that she is also thankful for groups that protect the family from protestors in their time of grief.
Colin, now 10, knows about the characteristics, such as a giving spirit and sense of humor, his mother loved about his father. He also knows about how and why his father died in Iraq.
But Christina said she tries to protect him as he gets older as sometimes commotion can upset him. When approached by Tribute for Fallen Soldiers, Christina asked Colin if he was okay with the group coming. Once she had his permission, she gave the group the okay to come to the house on the 3rd.
“It makes me think he is not forgotten,” Christina said. “I’m just glad that people don’t forget. Even though he’s not around anymore, I try to keep his memory around for (Colin). And with other people around, that helps me out, too.”
The public is invited to honor Penrod on the 3rd. Time and location will be annouced as the group gets closer to Mahomet.
