The 10th panel of the Traveling Tribute honoring 6,000 Americans who have fallen in the Global War on Terror will be dedicated on May 29 in ceremonies at Woodward Park in honor of the first Coast Guard member killed in combat since the Vietnam War.
The Manteca-based Welcome Home Heroes Foundation is honoring fallen hero DC3 Nathan Bruckenthal of the U.S. Coast Guard. The 10th panel will bear Bruckenthal’s image.
“It is with a heavy heart we have had to add another panel,” said Pastor Mike Dillman.
The fallen Coast Guard member’s mother Laurie Bullock and sister NoaBeth Bruckenthal will be traveling from the East Coast to attend the dedication of the 10th panel on Sunday, May 29, at 3 p.m.
The dedication ceremonies are part of the annual Not Forgotten Memorial Commemoration.
The day will include a free concert staged from 7 to 8:30 p.m. by former Marine and American Idol singer Josh Gracin, a rare missing man aerial formation using four C-130 workhorse four-engine turbo-prop cargo aircraft, ceremonies, entertainment, and aerial fireworks.
Dillman believes Manteca’s event is the largest Memorial Day commemoration on the West Coast. The city is also one of the few places in California - if not the only one - that has a parade on Memorial Day. The parade is organized through the Manteca Chamber of Commerce.
The day will start with a 5K run at 8 a.m. Worship services will take place at the park at 10 a.m.
There will be a car show with 500 entries, military vehicle display, pony rides, entertainment, a kids’ energy zone twice as large as last year, food, veteran services, and other events.
There will also be three helicopter landings.
Bruckenthal was killed on April 24, 2004 at the age of 24.
Bruckenthal was recognized as a leader by his commanding officers and received numerous awards for drug extradition operations and alien interdiction in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific including the National Defense Service Medal Coast Guard Merit Team Commendation and the Global War on Terrorism Medal with oak leaf.
Because of his unique skills and abilities he was chosen to be among the first Coast Guardsmen deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in early 2003. While there he received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and a Combat Action Ribbon for action in and around the port of Um Qasar.
In March 2004, at the request of his command staff, he volunteered for a second deployment to Iraq. Only weeks after discovering that his wife was carrying his unborn child, Nathan and two U.S. Navy sailors were killed when a suicide bomber attacked their rigid hull inflatable boat. Nathan had been chosen to become a part of the Taclet’s training unit. His job that afternoon was to instruct Navy personnel how to conduct maritime interdiction operations. The team observed a suspicious vessel, which did not heed their commands. The team intercepted the vessel.
This selfless action of courage protected the crew aboard the U.S.S. Firebolt, the off-shore oil platform and the oil terminal itself at Khawr Al Amaya, in the northern Arabian Gulf. For this action, Nathan was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal with oak leaf, and his second Combat Action Ribbon. He was laid to rest with many of America’s best at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Manteca-based Welcome Home Heroes Foundation is honoring fallen hero DC3 Nathan Bruckenthal of the U.S. Coast Guard. The 10th panel will bear Bruckenthal’s image.
“It is with a heavy heart we have had to add another panel,” said Pastor Mike Dillman.
The fallen Coast Guard member’s mother Laurie Bullock and sister NoaBeth Bruckenthal will be traveling from the East Coast to attend the dedication of the 10th panel on Sunday, May 29, at 3 p.m.
The dedication ceremonies are part of the annual Not Forgotten Memorial Commemoration.
The day will include a free concert staged from 7 to 8:30 p.m. by former Marine and American Idol singer Josh Gracin, a rare missing man aerial formation using four C-130 workhorse four-engine turbo-prop cargo aircraft, ceremonies, entertainment, and aerial fireworks.
Dillman believes Manteca’s event is the largest Memorial Day commemoration on the West Coast. The city is also one of the few places in California - if not the only one - that has a parade on Memorial Day. The parade is organized through the Manteca Chamber of Commerce.
The day will start with a 5K run at 8 a.m. Worship services will take place at the park at 10 a.m.
There will be a car show with 500 entries, military vehicle display, pony rides, entertainment, a kids’ energy zone twice as large as last year, food, veteran services, and other events.
There will also be three helicopter landings.
Bruckenthal was killed on April 24, 2004 at the age of 24.
Bruckenthal was recognized as a leader by his commanding officers and received numerous awards for drug extradition operations and alien interdiction in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific including the National Defense Service Medal Coast Guard Merit Team Commendation and the Global War on Terrorism Medal with oak leaf.
Because of his unique skills and abilities he was chosen to be among the first Coast Guardsmen deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in early 2003. While there he received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and a Combat Action Ribbon for action in and around the port of Um Qasar.
In March 2004, at the request of his command staff, he volunteered for a second deployment to Iraq. Only weeks after discovering that his wife was carrying his unborn child, Nathan and two U.S. Navy sailors were killed when a suicide bomber attacked their rigid hull inflatable boat. Nathan had been chosen to become a part of the Taclet’s training unit. His job that afternoon was to instruct Navy personnel how to conduct maritime interdiction operations. The team observed a suspicious vessel, which did not heed their commands. The team intercepted the vessel.
This selfless action of courage protected the crew aboard the U.S.S. Firebolt, the off-shore oil platform and the oil terminal itself at Khawr Al Amaya, in the northern Arabian Gulf. For this action, Nathan was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal with oak leaf, and his second Combat Action Ribbon. He was laid to rest with many of America’s best at Arlington National Cemetery.
