"Not Forgotten" has chosen Air Force Senior Airman Mark A. Forester as the image that will be
used on our 11th panel of the Welcome Home Heroes Traveling Tribute.

As a young man of 20 years old, Mark was outraged by the 9/11 attacks and he knew then it was
his calling to fight terrorism. He received his college degree, and then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force
in June 2007. Despite everyone telling him to go in as an officer, he wanted to enlist because
he wanted to start from the bottom up and he knew his chances of getting better
deployment opportunities would be increased as an enlisted airman. He wanted the toughest
job the military could offer, and Air Force Combat Controller was what he was looking for.

He was deployed to one of the most coveted areas by Combat Controllers in May 2010, FOB Cobra.
He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor for his heroic actions while engaged in ground combat against the enemy on 6 August 2010. Mark was fatally wounded during combat on 29 September 2010 while trying to save a fallen comrade. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for paying the ultimate price for freedom. He was killed in action alongside one of his Special Forces teammates. JAG 28, which was his call sign and the only name many pilots knew him by,
was immediately retired after his death.

Together with the Forester family, we will be dedicating the 11th panel on Sunday May 27, 2012
at Woodward Park.

You can read more about Mark and legacy at www.MarkAForester.com

Gold Star family members Julia Conover, right, and Diana Layfield find Julia’s son Marine Cpl Brandon C. Dewey’s name on the Welcome Home HeroesTraveling Tribute to those who have died serving in the War on Terror.

Photo by Hime Romero (The Manteca Bulletin)