Ten years ago Sunday, 29-year-old Cpl. Jared Shoemaker of Tulsa died while serving his country, and his family is thankful he has not been forgotten.
Shoemaker was part of a team traveling in a mounted patrol in an area of Fallujah, nestled within the Al Anbar Province of Iraq, when an improvised explosive device went off directly under the vehicle. The explosion killed Shoemaker, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps; Lance Cpl. Eric Valdepenas of Seekonk, Massachusetts, and Naval Corpsman Christopher Walsh of Overland Park, Kansas.
It also left Lance Cpl. Cody Hill of Ada with serious injuries.
The attack cut short the life and career of a man who less than two years prior had realized his dream of becoming a member of the Tulsa Police Department. But in a recent interview with the Tulsa World, Shoemaker’s parents said they consider themselves fortunate to have their son’s sacrifice be remembered in other ways.
In recent years, Shoemaker’s name has graced a lounge at the Tulsa International Airport, a bridge overpass in Owasso, an annual memorial walk that raises money for the Special Olympics and a Tulsa-based rugby academy.
The couple’s living room is full of medals, flags and photos from Jared Shoemaker’s time as a police officer and Marine, including items provided by others in his unit. They have put together a scrapbook with clippings of numerous articles written about him since his death. His older brother, Steve Shoemaker, joined the Army Reserve and finished his service this year.
Despite those reminders of Jared’s accomplishments, though, they say the feeling is also bittersweet.
“You can’t watch TV without realizing what’s going on with our military, and it affects not only our son but also other families and friends that are in the military,” said Ken Shoemaker, Jared’s father. “I’ve kind of learned to live with the memory, and it’s maybe gotten a little lighter, but it’s still there. There’s still part of the grieving process that doesn’t go away.”
Jared Shoemaker joined the Tulsa Police Department in January 2005 after becoming a member of the Marine Corps Reserve, and was mobilized to active duty in December that year from the Anti-Tank Training Company in Broken Arrow. He was assigned to Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which mostly consisted of Marines from Massachusetts.
He arrived in Fallujah in March and was set to return to Tulsa in October 2006.
