ANC - SECTION 60 CEREMONY

You may be facilitating a ‘Section 60 Ceremony’ at Arlington National Cemetery in lieu of a wreath-laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. It will be clearly noted on your itinerary if this is to take place as ANC - SECTION 60 CEREMONY.

Section 60 Ceremony - to be the groups final stop during visit to ANC

Florist Role in advance of group arrival in Section 60 –

• Cross shaped wreath placed at Gravesite 11621 in Section 60

• 4 bunches of flowers placed behind the headstone

• Flowers will be placed 30 minutes prior to time noted on itinerary for ceremony

School /Students role –

• Select 4 students

• The 4 students will be expected to do research the night before on the fallen solider they will honor (EPL will help facilitate the night before)

  • The story of fallen solider Ian Zook

  • Applicable Scripture

  • Select a reading or poem to honor the fallen

  • Prayer for the family

The ceremony –

• EPL will retrieve the 4 bunches of flowers and give to the four students to hold during EPLs intro

• EPL will give overview of Section 60 & introduce students

• Students will each share what they have learned – each will place their bouquet of flowers at the front base of the headstone as they conclude their part

***It is imperative that the entire group be extremely respectful and silent during this ceremony in Section 60

It is an honor for ACTS to pay tribute to this young hero and his family. Ian was a student at Morningside Christian School and Julie Groton was his teacher; she knows his family well. He is a Christian school graduate. Ian’s family is very active in the Gold Star Family organization. When Julie visits Ian’s grave she tells his mom, she gave her boy a kiss for her. They are incredibly grateful.

Ian Thomas Zook

Section 60

Gravesite: 11621

Branch of Service: USMC

DOB: 08/23/1980

DOD: 10/12/2004

Ian is the recipient of two Purple Hearts, one for his ultimate sacrifice and one for a similar incident in which he was wounded upon first arriving to Iraq.

A NOTE FROM IAN’S MOM:

“Ian was a good student in high school, graduating with straight A’s in all four years of high school. Ian was goal oriented and joined the Marine Corps in 2001 as a stepping stone in his dream to one day join the FBI investigative force. He chose “Security Forces” as his job or specialized training in the Marine Corps, to achieve this goal. Shortly after Ian joined the Marine Corps, September 11th, 2001 occurred. Ian knew he would eventually be sent to Iraq.

Following Ian’s training, we was assigned with the Marine Corps Security Force team at Kingsbay Naval Base. There, the Security Force team guards our nation’s nuclear submarines. In January of 2004, Ian was sent to Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base, to train for his deployment to Iraq. By then, Ian had ranked up to Corporal. Ian and his unit left for Iraq in August of 2004. Ian was killed in action on October 12, 2004, when he unit was ambushed and the Humvee Ian was riding in passed directly over 3 anti-tank mines buried in the road. Ian died from traumatic loss of both legs and loss of blood. Before Ian left for Iraq, he told me “Mom, if anything happens to me, I know where I’m gong.” You see, Ian also was a Christian. His favorite Bible verse was Philippians 1:21 - “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” God in His great love, placed Ian’s Sergeant, a fellow Christian, at Ian’s side moments before Ian died. This man, now our friend, held Ian’s hand as Ian entered Heaven.

The men who served with Ian had this to say about Ian, “Ian was my friend, I want to be like him.”

Dear Students,

As Ian’s mom, my hope is that you, too, will have goals. But mostly, I hope that you will be one who is a friend, willing to stand for others and do what is right.

God bless each of you,

Ian’s Mom”

https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/marine-cpl-ian-t-zook/454293

https://www.forevermissed.com/cpl-ian-thomas-zook/stories

https://herobracelets.org/2019/08/10/honoring-cpl-ian-thomas-zook