and advancing the military heritage of Greater Cleveland.

    As you may know, U. S. Marine Lance Corporal Andy Nowacki, the son of Grays member Denis Nowacki, was killed in Iraq on February 26,2005. Corporal Nowacki was a gunner on a humvee serving his 2nd tour with the 2/24th Marines. He was killed when his humvee was hit by an IED (improvised explosive device) while guarding a truck convoy south of Baghdad. Andy was to return home in a month to celebrate his 25th birthday and return to his work as a Grand River police officer.

    We are continually saddened by the loss of Andy and our hearts go out to his family and friends. We have created a memorial honoring Andy's sacrifice in service of our country inside the front entrance of the Armory.

    He graduated from Brush High School in the Cleveland suburb of Lyndhurst in 1998, and enlisted in the Marine Corps reserve the following fall.

    The Nowacki family has decided to honor Andy with a "Marine Lance Corporal Andrew Nowacki Scholarship Fund", The Scholarship Fund at Lakeland Community College was established by his family and friends to assist students pursuing criminal justice or law enforcement careers.