SJ54: Celebrating the life of Lance Corporal Nicholas Cain Kirven.
WHEREAS, United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Nicholas Cain Kirven of Richmond was killed in action in Afghanistan on May 8, 2005; and
WHEREAS, Lance Corporal Kirven grew up in Fairfax and Richmond and graduated from Douglas S. Freeman High School; and
WHEREAS, Lance Corporal Kirven enlisted in the Marine Corps on December 13, 2001, and served as an infantry rifleman assigned to Company K with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force based at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and was assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force-7 when deployed to Afghanistan; and
WHEREAS, on May 8, 2005, Lance Corporal Kirven, a squad leader, and his unit engaged in a fierce firefight with insurgents along the Afghan and Pakistani border in the Alishang District of Laghman Province, driving the enemy into a cave and subsequently ordering an airstrike on the area; he and one other Marine were ambushed and killed when they entered the bombed cave to assess the situation; and
WHEREAS, Lance Corporal Kirven only had three weeks left to serve of an eight-month tour of duty in Afghanistan and was determined to return home and attend college; he was contemplating applying to George Mason University in the fall; and
WHEREAS, Lance Corporal Kirven was a great jokester, loved to play basketball, and was ardently devoted to his mother and stepfather, who reside in Fairfax, his father, who lives in Richmond, as well as his sister and brother, and many other family members; and
WHEREAS, Lance Corporal Kirven received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, among other medals, and was laid to rest with full honors in Arlington National Cemetery; and
WHEREAS, having been a compassionate young man, who encouraged and easily befriended everyone he met, Lance Corporal Kirven will be fondly remembered for his innate ability to “bring people together”; and
WHEREAS, Lance Corporal Kirven's death is a reminder of the hazards faced daily by the thousands of young Americans who serve in our armed forces overseas and whose devotion to duty places them in harm's way; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of a courageous and patriotic Virginian, Lance Corporal Nicholas Cain Kirven; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Lance Corporal Nicholas Cain Kirven as an expression of the high regard in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly and the citizens of Virginia.
