Lance Cpl. Sandvick-Monroe honored

Hours after Jeremy Scott Sandvick-Monroe graduated from Chinook High School in 2004, he left for San Diego to enter United States Marine Corps Basic Training.

"After the attacks on 9-11, he decided that the Marine Corps was what he wanted to do," Melissa Sandvick said on Saturday morning at the Malta VFW Club. Sandvick, who lives in Kalispell, but is originally from Malta and went to School in Dodson, talked about her son while she set out pictures of him, some of his medals, old uniforms and banners signed by his Marine Corps friends ahead of a presentation of an Honor and Remember Flag she was to receive in her son's honor.

It was 12-years earlier that Lance. Cpl. Sandvick-Monroe of the U.S. Marine Corps' Echo Company 2 Battalion, 3rd Marines Division was mortally wounded in action on October 8, 2006, at the Al Anbar Province in Haditha, Northwestern Iraq.

"He was in Afghanistan first, for four months," Sandvick said. "And then he was deployed to Iraq for less than a month before he was shot by a sniper while on patrol."

Lance Cpl. Sandvick was born in Phillips County, lived and went to school in Dodson for several years and helped his grandfather, Melvin Sandvick, maintain the Hillside Cemetery there in town, according to his sister, Danielle VanWinkle.

"And that is where he is laid to rest," she added. (Melvin passed away the beginning of April this year and is also laid to rest at the Hillside Cemetery.)

Melissa, Danielle, and many other family members and friends were at the Malta VFW Club on Saturday to help remember Lance Cpl. Sandvick-Monroe's memory and honor the sacrifice he made for his country as South Dakota's Christine Bestgen presented the Sandvick family with an Honor and Remember Flag. She said the red on the flag represents the blood spilled by brave men and women in America's military throughout history; the blue star represents active service in military conflict; the white border recognizes the purity of sacrifice; the gold star signifies the ultimate sacrifice of a warrior in active service who will not return home; the folded flag signifies the final tribute to an individual life that a family sacrificed and gave to the nation; and the flame is an eternal reminder of the spirit that has departed this life yet burns on in the memory of all who knew and loved the fallen hero.

The nearly 50 people heard of Lance Cpl. Sandvick-Monroe's transition from a high school grad to a man before he left for the military.

"He sat me down and said 'Mom, I won't be coming back'," Bestgen read Melissa Sandvick's account. "Don't ever put me on a pedestal, I am just doing my job.

"'Do not put me on a pedestal', that part is hard to do. When you see your son grow from a baby to a solider, that is something to be proud of. Jeremy was a great young man with many friends ...he had a heart as big as the size of Montana."

Melissa Sandvick was also presented with a handmade guitar made by Carlos Soto, the doctor that took care of Lance Cpl. Sandvick-Monroe the day he lost his life.

"Every once in a while an amazing thing like this will pop up," Melissa said of the day's events. "I just want to thank everyone for being here today to help us honor and remember Jeremy."