Biden signs bill naming Post Office in Lakeland for Marine killed in Afghanistan in 2004

President Joe Biden has signed a bill designating a U.S. Postal Service building in Lakeland for a Polk County man killed in Afghanistan in 2004.

The resolution directs the Postal Service to name the facility at 6000 S. Florida Ave. the U.S. Marine Corporal Ronald R. Payne Jr. Post Office. Payne, 23, died during a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Tawara, Afghanistan, on May 7, 2004.

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U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland, introduced the resolution in May. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, sponsored the Senate version. Biden signed the package containing the resolution on Dec. 27.

Payne enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating from Mulberry High School in 1999. He was deployed with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance battalion to Iraq in 2003, where his unit participated in the initial invasion of the country, Franklin’s office said in a news release.

Payne later volunteered for a deployment to Afghanistan. He posthumously received the Bronze Star with Valor for saving the life of Staff Sgt. Jason Thompson, who was surrounded after being wounded during the exchange, the release said.

“Ron Payne was a shining example of the best America has to offer,” Franklin said in a May news release. “While he was taken from this world far too soon, the impact of his selfless service on our country and on those who knew him continues to this day. I am privileged to introduce this bill naming a post office in his honor, so that current and future generations can see his name and learn of his sacrifice in defense of our liberty.”

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Post Office in Lakeland to be named for Marine who died in Afghanistan