Community Corner
Community Honors Fallen Soldier
Powder Springs family receives paver in honor of 22-year-old Jacob Dennis.
A Powder Springs family had a bittersweet visit Saturday to a veteran's memorial that will honor one of their own.
They were at Acworth’s Patriots Point at Cauble Park, to accept a brick paver from the city to remember and honor their son, Jacob Dennis, a 2005 graduate of North Cobb Christian School who died in the war in Afghanistan last July.
Renee and Tony Dennis and their daughter, Molly, accepted the paver from Acworth Alderman Gene Pugliese, who is retired from the Air Force Reserves. He noted that 22-year-old Army Private First Class Jacob Dennis, who enlisted in the Army in 2006, was injured in a weapons system incident. After the incident, he was taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where he died.
Jacob was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, in Washington state.
He was nearing the end of a 12-month deployment in Afghanistan when he died. He had just celebrated his first wedding anniversary.
“It was a very nice ceremony,” said Jacob’s mother, Renee Dennis, of the tribute. “As parents, you don’t want people to forget your child.”
As the one-year anniversary of Jacob’s death approaches, the family’s strong faith and their school and church communities continue to hold them up in remembrance of the sacrifices their son made.
Dennis said she was impressed with the number of veterans and young families with children who attended the second annual Acworth ceremony.
“It’s nice to see parents giving their children a good foundation on why they have the freedoms they have,” Dennis said. The paver will be placed among others in the Veterans Memorial area of Patriots Point.
The Dennis family had another surprise earlier this year when Jacob’s alma mater renamed the North Cobb Christian football field “Jacob Dennis Field.” The field now features a bronze fallen soldier monument featuring a helmet, rifle and a pair of boots.
"You see schools name things after big donors," NCCS head of school Todd Clingman said at the March field dedication, explaining why they chose to honor Dennis. "What bigger investment can a kid make than give his life for his country?"