In The News

Fallen Marine Sgt. Daniel Price honored with memorial plaque in Holland
The Holland Sentinel, July 4, 2015 

Holland Area Veterans Council President Roger Jansen promised the family of Gunnery Sgt. Daniel Price that once the Afghanistan War was over, the late marine’s name would be added to the veterans’ monument in Centennial Park.

On Saturday, July 4, Jansen kept that promise to honor the memory of the 27-year-old Holland-area native who was killed in combat in Afghanistan on July 29, 2012.

A crowd gathered at the memorial Saturday as the plaque was dedicated. Price’s father, Karl Price, spoke to what the honor meant to not only he and his family, but to the country.

“There is a lot of sacrifice here, a sacrifice of all this precious blood that was shed so we can have the freedoms we have in this nation,” he said. “So many times you walk past a monument like this and we never give it another thought, but all this freedom we have isn’t free.”

The memorial, which includes names of Holland-area veterans who died in service, was dedicated July 4, 1997, and Price’s name is the first to be added since then.

Price enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 2003 while still in high school and entered the Marines a month after graduation. He was assigned to the first Marine Special Operations Battalion, Camp Pendleton, Calif. In 2008, he was selected to serve in the Marines Special Operations Command.

He served three tours in Afghanistan and three tours in Iraq. He was promoted to sergeant while serving in Iraq. During his military career, Price received a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star with Combat "V," a Navy and Marine Achievement Medal, three Combat Action Ribbons and three Good Conduct Medals. He was posthumously awarded a Silver Star for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity” while a team member of the Special Operations Task Force-West, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan.

When he was killed in action, the Marine was honored in the state House and Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, came to Holland to meet Price’s body when it was returned home for the funeral.

Hundreds of people stood along the route from the West Michigan Regional Airport to the Langeland-Sterenberg Funeral Home.