Tributes

Memorial Page Established By-SFC Rod Brewer
In Honor Of: = Soldiers Name:Lance Corporal Stacy A. Dryden
Email address = Email Address:sfcrodbrew@hotmail.com
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Your Memorial = Stacy A. Dryden     
Wednesday, October 29 2008 @ 04:01 PM EDT
Contributed by: River97
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Akron Beacon Journal -- CANTON: As a hard October rain fell and dark clouds colored the
sky, a young Marine called ''our Annie'' by her family was buried Tuesday afternoon with full
military honors at Forest Hill Cemetery.

Lance Cpl. Stacy Ann ''Annie'' Dryden, 22, was described as ''a patriot and a hero in anybody's
book,'' by Gary Glover, a family member who officiated at the funeral.

A 2004 GlenOak High School graduate from Plain Township, Lance Cpl. Dryden died in Iraq
on Oct. 19 in what the Marines are calling a nonhostile incident that is under investigation.

She joined the Marines in 2007 and arrived in Iraq in August.

According to her family, the Marines she served with named her the ''fiery angel'' because
''she came off as sweet and innocent, but she was tough as nails.''

More than 200 people attended the young Marine's service at Reed Funeral Home in Canton,
where her lifelong friend and fellow Marine, Pfc. Jessie Reed, spoke of her love of Annie.

''Without Annie, I wouldn't be the person I am today,'' Reed said. ''She's going to stay in my
heart forever.''

Outside the funeral home, more than a dozen members of the Patriot Guard held flags to
honor the fallen Marine.

''I didn't know her,'' said Paul Blackwell, 54, of Stonecreek in Tuscarawas County, who held a
flag at the funeral home and at the cemetery. ''We're here to honor'' a Marine.

Glover, a great-uncle of Lance Cpl. Dryden's mother, said the Marine ''will always be our
Annie. . . . Only 22 years old, no wonder we ask why.''

Memories of 'Annie'

He said he will forever remember ''the pixie-faced little girl'' that she was as a child.

''Our memories of Annie are God's gift to us,'' Glover said. ''Let her memories bless us with
peace.''

Lance Cpl. Dryden, he said, believed that one should not ''be a bystander'' and that people
should ''dream big.''

On North Main Street in North Canton, along the procession route from the funeral home to
the cemetery, a large American flag was displayed between ladder trucks from the North
Canton and Plain Township fire departments.

Christmas in Arlington

Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.
Know the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace and farewell.

In God We Trust       Gone But Not Forgotten
SFC Rod, Standing For Those Who Stood For Us
www.patriotguard.org
www.ourfallensoldier.com
www.road2recovery.us.com
www.armyaircrews.com
Lance Cpl. Stacy A. Dryden
United States Marine Corps
KIA 09 Oct 2008, Iraq
Sign Guestbook
22, of North Canton, Ohio; assigned to 1st Supply Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, Camp
Pendleton, Calif.; died on Oct. 19 in Asad, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a non-hostile incident.