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Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Winter Park mom recalls fallen son at Memorial Day ceremony for Gold Star families
From the first, U.S. Army SPC David Houck was a man of focus. In preschool, he would make paper swords for his classmates, his mother recalls. Hundreds of them, every day. It earned him the title of 'armorer' and seemed to set his destiny. As an adult, he regained that title when he became a supply specialist in the U.S. Army for Alpha Company, 297th Military Intelligence Battalion. That was the job he held with pride until his death in a car crash on Jan. 2 in Georgia. On Monday, his mother took the stage as the keynote speaker during the 75th annual Memorial Day service at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha, for the unveiling of a monument honoring the Gold Star families of fallen military service members. 'I'm telling but one story among a quilt made of many, and I have heard them,' Laurie Houck, of Winter Park, said to the audience of hundreds. 'May our son's story speak to you in some way. May it remind you of the community that supports you, your fellow Gold Star families as well as those still in military service.' Erected beside thousands of graves with small American flags flapping over them in the breeze, the monument soon will offer local families the opportunity to inscribe the names of their fallen among the seals of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and Space Force. To start, just David Houck's name is marked, honoring his family and his service. 'Gold Star families represent the quiet strength of America,' Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said as he unveiled the monument. 'Your courage and resilience reflect the best of who we are as a nation. You remind us that behind every fallen hero is a family forever changed, a story we must never forget.' In life, David Houck had a yearning to belong. He also had an active mind and body — he was always on the move, Laurie Houck said — a love for building things, and a fascination with superheroes. On the table set in his memory ahead of the ceremony, there was a 'Thor: Love and Thunder' Lego set. As he grew older, he knew he didn't want to go to college but, in his mother's words, 'He just wanted to be somebody.' Then came the chance to join the Army. 'Once he put the uniform on, he was in and he carried it proudly,' Laurie Houck said. 'He had decided to make the military his career relatively quickly, and I think he just wanted to do something important. That's why he loves superheroes.' Laurie Houck didn't expect to speak at Monday's ceremony so soon after her son's passing. The call came as her family looked into resources through the Army following David's passing. In her speech, she joked that she made the mistake of offering to help at any time. She also didn't expect her son's name to be the first included on the local monument. While she lives in Winter Park, he is buried in Washington. But now, she said, she can honor him closer to home. 'He is 3,000 miles away, and I want to come here and remember him here and think about him,' she said. 'Now I have a place where I can do that.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Tyson Lurie graduates from the Citadel, joins Myrtle Beach police force
Tyson D. Lurie graduated from the Citadel Military College of South Carolina on May 3. According to an announcement, he earned a bachelor of arts degree in Criminal Justice, along with two minors in Intelligence and Leadership. Lurie, a 2021 graduate of Dover High School, joined the Corps of Cadets in August 2021. After completing a nine-month fourth class system, he became a resident of South Carolina and enlisted in the South Carolina Army National Guard/ROTC. He attended Officer Candidate School in the summer of 2024 and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army National Guard on the same day. Lurie will serve a minimum of eight years as a combat engineer. During his time at the Citadel, Lurie was an active member of Alpha Company and held several leadership roles, including company armorer, company clerk and company executive officer during his senior year. He was named to the President's List three times and received Gold Stars for high academic achievement seven out of eight semesters. Lurie was also nominated to join Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society, in his junior year. Following graduation, Lurie accepted a position with the Myrtle Beach Police Department. He is the son of Seth and Danielle Lurie of Dover. This story was created by Jane Imbody, jimbody@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team. This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: From Dover to the Citadel: Tyson Lurie's path to Army leadership
