Honoree: Thomas A. Reilly, Jr


Thomas A. Reilly, Jr
Dates: Died December 21, 2008
Hometown: London, KY
Branch of Service: Marine Corps
Rank: Lance Corporal
Player: Jay Leng

Lance Corporal Thomas Reilly, 19, of London, Kentucky was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He was killed December 21, 2008, while supporting combat operations in Karmah, Anbar Province, Iraq, when a rocket propelled grenade struck the Humvee he was riding in. He had been deployed to Iraq in July 2008 and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

LCpl Reilly, who graduated from South Laurel High School in 2007, liked sports growing up, including basketball, football and boxing, but he had a flair for cooking and baking. He planned on going to culinary school when he got out of the military.

At his farewell, several soldiers recounted stories. “I remember I was trying to get a radio check one day,” Platoon Leader, SSgt Mike Brown said. “I was getting frustrated no one was answering, so I called him over. I said, ‘you’re the radio operator aren’t you – how am I supposed to trust you when we’re about to go outside the wire and I can’t get the radio to work.’ He said, ‘staff sergeant, you have to turn the radio on.’ He never let me forget that.”

LCpl Reilly was survived by his father, Thomas Reilly, mother, Georgina Bray, sister Regina and brother Kenneth.