Late Marine Sgt. Brock Babb will be honored on Saturday with ceremony at AMVETS post
EVANSVILLE − Brock Babb’s incredible selflessness will be honored again on Saturday, the 16th anniversary of his death.
Babb, a sergeant in the Marine Reserves, returned to his beloved West Side after coming home from “Desert Storm.” He volunteered to continue the fight and was killed in action at Fallujah, Iraq, on Oct. 15, 2006.
“It took several attempts because of his age (40) to get back in,” said his brother, B.J. Babb. “The No. 1 thing is there were a lot of younger Marines over there and he wanted to pass on his experience. Helping young Marines was his main goal. Most of them were 18 or 19 or in their early 20s and he was 40.”
Babb’s Gold Star Family will be presented with an Honor Flight Flag at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at AMVETS Post No. 84, located on Broadway Avenue. The flag is presented to the family in memory of a fallen soldier. He left behind his wife, Barb, and children, Tanner, Zoie and Levi.
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“I appreciate these groups,” B.J. said. “They recognize what he stood for. Obviously they knew what he stood for."
His brother regarded Brock as a “West Side poster boy.”
“He was 11 years older than me and when we would drive around, he would wave at people and I would say, ‘Who was that?’ He said, ‘I don’t know but they live on the West Side so they must be good people,’’’ B.J. said.
Brock’s unit was the Marine Forces Reserves 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division based in Terre Haute. Babb and Lance Corporal Josh Hines of Olney, Illinois were traveling in an armored Humvee when an improvised explosive struck the vehicle and claimed their lives in Anbar Province, 50 miles west of Baghdad.
Reitz High School health teacher and wrestling coach Scott Ferguson will always remember the date of Babb’s passing as it happened on the date of his wedding anniversary. Babb, a 1984 Reitz graduate who played football and wrestled for the Panthers, loomed large in Ferguson’s wrestling feeder program.
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“He helped run the Evansville Junior Football League and he pioneered the wrestling boot camp that started in 2004,” Ferguson said. “We continue to honor his name and keep the boot camp alive the second Saturday in November each year. It will take place at the Barker Ave. Sportsplex on Nov. 12 at 9 a.m.”
B.J. Babb said his older brother taught him a million lessons.
“The most important things were how to treat people and responsibility,” B.J. said.
AMVETS Auxiliary President Terrie Mathis said the Honor and Remember program was established on Memorial Day of 2008 to publicly honor and remember every American fallen service member and recognize the enduring sacrifice of their family.
“It’s a visible public reminder to all Americans of the lives given to preserve our freedoms: a national symbol of appreciation recognizing the sacrifice of generations of fallen hero families,” Mathis said. “The Honor and Remember flag pays tribute to all military lives lost while serving, or as a result of serving. Military deaths in all wars and conflicts and all branches of service from our nation’s inception are recognized.”
Sgt. Babb was a West Side icon who was heavily involved in the community, she said.
“He’s an American hero,” Mathis said.
Contact Gordon Engelhardt via email at Gordon.engelhardt@courierpress.com or on Twitter @EngGordon.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville Marine to be honored Saturday on anniversary of death
