WYOMING COUNTY, Pa. — Staff Sergeant Steven Tudor, a Dunmore native and class of 1989 Dunmore High School graduate, is just one of the 309 Pennsylvanians being remembered this Memorial Day in Tunkhannock Township.
Staff Sergeant Tudor died while serving in Iraq in 2007, and every year, his sister organizes a balloon release in his honor.
"He loved his country; he loved serving. It was his third tour in Iraq, and he was coming home to retire before he was killed," SSG Tudor's sister, Kendra Lynn, said.
Kendra Lynn has done the balloon release every year for the last year eight years.
Usually, it happens at the end of Tunkhannock's annual Memorial Day Parade with hundreds of people. But this year, the parade was canceled.
"I thought for sure it wasn't going to happen, and I thought, 'what am I going to do?' And I thought you know what I'm not going to let this stop my tradition of honoring our fallen heroes."
Then Wyoming County entered the yellow phase last week, and plans changed again.
"We live on a beautiful field; I gathered up 25 people. I said listen, this is what we need to do, we can't let this stop us because they deserve this and so much more," she explained.
So, standing 6 feet apart, Kendra's 25 friends and family members released the 309 balloons, honoring every Pennsylvania soldier killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.
Kendra's email address is on the back of every balloon's tag.
For eight years, she has heard back from people from all over who have found the balloons.
"We had one that said he's playing outside with his children and they saw something in the tree, and they looked up and pulled it down. I'm getting goosebumps. They said thank you for bringing the real meaning of Memorial Day back to our kids," Kendra explained.
And Kendra says that's all she wants for people to remember before they celebrate and enjoy the start of the summer season.