The names of Methuen native and Marine Corps Pfc. Eric Currier and Army Ranger Sgt. Andrew Nicol, who has family ties to Haverhill, will be added to the Global War On Terrorism Monument in Hampton Saturday.
American Legion Post 35 in Hampton will add the names of Currier, Nicol and four other members of the military from New Hampshire who died serving this country since last Sept. 11.
Currier, 21, who lived in Londonderry, was killed by sniper fire in Afghanistan on Feb. 17. Nicol, 23, of Kensington, died Aug. 8 from wounds received in the blast of an improvised explosive device while on a mission in Afghanistan.
Nicol's grandfather, Pasquale Emiro of Haverhill, said the Army Rangers did a superb job honoring Nicol, and he was amazed by the condolences his family received.
"The only time I've ever seen anything like it was during World War II, when there was a sense of patriotism," said Emiro, a Marine veteran who fought in World War II and was wounded by a Japanese bullet.
Emiro said Nicol was supposed to have come home, but stayed in Afghanistan to fill in for a soldier whose wife was having a baby.
"And this was the kind of a guy he was," Emiro said. "He was a John Wayne with the heart of St. Michael the Archangel."
The service in Hampton will be at the memorial at 69 High Street at 6 p.m. The memorial honors those from the Granite State who have died in the 9-year-old war that began after terrorists attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
Closer to home, Andover will hold a ceremony tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. in front of the Town Offices at 36 Bartlet St. to remember the four Andover residents who died on Sept. 11 — Leonard Taylor, Mildred Naiman, Christopher Morrison and Betty Ong — along with all other victims.
The Methuen Fire Department will hold a Ceremony of Remembrance Saturday at the central fire station, 24 Lowell St., starting at 9:45 a.m. Fire Department personnel and guests will assemble while Chief Steven Buote gives opening remarks. At 9:59 a.m. — the time of the World Trade Center's South Tower collapse — the station bell will toll three sets of five chimes each.
The fire station's flags will be lowered to half-staff, with the American flag lowered last. There will be a minute of silence, a prayer by a chaplain, a firefighters' prayer, then more bell tolling followed by raising the flags, with the American flag raised first.Northern Essex Community College faculty, staff, students and alumni will participate in President Barack Obama's National Day of Service and Remembrance on Saturday by volunteering to help those in need.
The Haverhill mayor's office and the Lawrence Fire Department were planning events, but details were not finalized.
