Hampton Marine lost at sea to be memorialized on Hampton Beach monument
HAMPTON — Friends and family will gather around the Lady of the Sea Marine Memorial on Aug. 6 when the name of late Marine Cpl. Jonathan Currier is added to the commemorative statue bearing the names of the state’s fallen sailors.
A native son of Hampton, the late Jonathan Currier lost his life Aug. 9, 2018, when he is believed to have fallen overboard from his ship, the USS Essex, while the amphibious assault vessel was deployed in the Mindanao Sea off the Philippines Islands.
Currier, a member of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was declared dead Aug. 17, 2018, following a five-day search over 13,000 square miles.
The unveiling of Currier’s name will coincide with the rededication of the memorial statute, thanks to a bill passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor. Instrumental in the passage is state Rep. Mike Edgar, D-Hampton, according to Berk Bennet, commander of Hampton’s American Legion Post 35.
“We’ll rededicate the memorial, then Jonathan’s name will be unveiled,” Bennet said. “Jonathan’s parents will be there, and his brother will be a speaker. All the bill’s sponsors have been invited.”
Prior to the bill’s passage into law, names engraved on the Lady of the Sea Marine Memorial were limited to New Hampshire’s veterans lost or buried at sea during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
HB 1456 amended the law to allow names of service members lost at sea during the periods including Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, and the War on Terrorism following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.
According to Bennet, Edgar, a retired Navy captain himself, serving 28 years with the Navy Construction Battalion, or Seabees, filed the bill and worked diligently to move the bill forward.
This had a personal mission for Edgar because Jonathan Currier was his neighbor.
“He was a member of the Junior ROTC program at Winnacunnet and he was an Eagle Scout,” Edgar said. “He was just a great kid, a wonderful young man.”
The son of Kathy and Chris Currier and the brother of Collin Currier, Jonathan was a Winnacunnet High School graduate in the Class of 2015. Age 21 at the time of his death, due to his talents and leadership skills, he had already risen in the ranks in just three years to be a crew chief for a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter.
Kathy Currier said it’s fitting the memorial is at Hampton Beach because Jonathan grew up there and always enjoyed it.
“He was always in the water,” Currier said. “It’s nice that his name will face the water. It’s hard to see his name there because of why it’s there, but it is comforting. It’s nice that he’s remembered.”
Edgar said the ceremony will include Meredith Collins, from the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, which oversees the Lady of the Sea Memorial. There will be the laying of a memorial wreath by a member of Currier’s family escorted by a uniformed representative of the U.S. military, he said, and three bells will be tolled in Currier’s honor.
“It should be a very moving ceremony,” Edgar said.
Other legislators from both sides of the aisle co-sponsored the bill with Edgar, many from the Seacoast, including the late Renny Cushing, of Hampton; Jim Maggiore, of North Hampton; Laura Pantelakos, of Portsmouth, and Jaci Grote, of Rye. Steve Shurtleff, of Pennacook; John Graham, of Bedford; and Skip Cleaver, of Nashua, also co-sponsored it.
Once passed by the House, Seacoast District 24's Sen. Tom Sherman, D-Rye, and Sen. David Watters, D-Dover, ushered it successfully through the Senate chamber before Gov. Chris Sununu signed it into law.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton NH Marine lost at sea: Name added to Lady of the Sea statue
