Pembroke Pines Re-Names Avenue After Fallen Marine
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
PEMBROKE PINES (CBSMiami) – Dozens of residents honored a fallen South Florida marine who was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday night.
The City of Pembroke Pines re-named southwest 172nd avenue in memory of Lance Corporal Patrick Xavier Jr.
The 24-year-old was a former Pembroke Pines resident and was supporting combat operations in Afghanistan.
He died in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.
"We are here today to honor my son, a U.S. Marine, for his courage, dedication and sacrifice in Afghanistan," said Patrick Xavier Sr, father of the fallen marine.
The idea for naming the avenue after Xavier came from his family, so that their son would always be remembered.
Xavier's mother, Elizabeth Barolette, had approached Vice Mayor Iris Siple regarding the loss of her son. She asked if something permanent could be done in his former home of Pembroke Pines to honor his memory and service.
"We are honoring and remembering a young man who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country in a place very far from here, in the Helmand Province in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom," said Iris A. Siple, Vice Mayor, City of Pembroke Pines. "The idea for naming this avenue after Patrick was due to a request from one mother, to another, for her son to always be remembered. We have so few true heroes."
