Semper Fidelis: Remembering a Fallen Marine and His Granddad Essay
On a warm Sunday summer morning while riding his Harley on a back road near Albany, Georgia, Marine Sgt.
Alan Nabors struck an eighteen wheeler that was pulling out from a truck stop. The intersection where the accident occurred is notorious for accidents. Alan did not survive the injuries he sustained in the collision. He was only 26 years old and the grandson of Glenn Lord. The truck driver was arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter, but this brought little solace to the Lord family. Here is Alan’s obituary:
Sgt.
Ronald Alan Nabors II ,26, was taken from us on June 30, 2013 in a tragic accident in Albany, Georgia. He was born in Pasadena, Texas on December 14, 1986. He graduated from Deer Park High School in 2006.Our marine went straight from high school to the United States Marine Corp.
where he acquired many honors; two Good Conduct Medals, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Nation Defense Service Medal, Presidential Unit Citation-Navy, three Letters of Appreciation, Certificate of Appreciation, Meritorious Mast, NATO Medal-ISAF Afghanistan. He made us so very proud!He is preceded in death by his beloved grandfathers, Glenn Lord and William Nabors.He is survived by his father and step-mother, Ronald Alan and Frances Nabors, his mother and step-father, Glenda and Andy Felkner, his paternal grandmother, Marsha Conver, his maternal grandmother, Lou Ann Lord, brothers, Stephen Cupples and Ryan Smith, sisters, Danielle Smith, Rebecca Martin, and husband Greg, Jennifer Baker, and husband Patrick, Melissa Carrier, and Gus. He is also remembered with love and affection by aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.REST IN PEACE, we will always love you. We will honor our marine with visitation from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm and funeral services to be held Saturday, July 6, 2013 at 3:00 pm at Forest Park East Chapel located at 21620 Gulf Freeway in Webster, Texas.
His brother Marines held a tribute ride on their Harleys and erected a cross in Alan’s honor at the crash site. You can see the photos on a special Facebook page that has been established for him here.Alan was very close to Glenn they shared many common bonds, not the least of which was their military service. If you look at the photos of both Alan and a young Glenn in their uniforms, you can see the strong family resemblance. They were so close that after his granddad passed, Alan got a Glenn Lord tattoo on his arm to memorialize him.
At the time of Alan’s untimely death, a major event was on the horizon for the Lords. The family could have postponed the pre-planned July 26th ceremony donating Glenn’s vast collection of Howard manuscripts and letters to the Harry Ransom Center and no one would have blamed them. But Alan would have wanted them, in the Marine tradition to carry on, bringing his granddad’s wishes to fruition. So strengthened by their faith and their love for Alan and Glenn, the family proceeded with the scheduled event. While Alan was physically unable to be there, he surely was there in spirit.I only had the pleasure to speak with Alan twice, once at Glenn’s 80th birthday celebration and six weeks later at Glenn’s funeral. Both times his face brightened when he spoke about his granddad, saying how proud he was of him and impressed by all of us coming to see him, especially those who had to travel far. Alan also said he and other family members were reading all the tributes to Glenn here on the blog.
On January 22, 2013, Alan left the following comment for my “Gone but not Forgotten” post marking the first anniversary of Glenn’s passing:
I really appreciate all that you post about my grandad whenever I think of him I’ll come to your site and see what all you have posted and it helps. So again thanks for keeping his legacy alive.
I cannot express in words how much Alan’s comment means to me. I am certainly humbled by his words and that this blog was a place he could visit when he was thinking of his granddad. So while we pause today to remember our friend and mentor Glenn on the second anniversary of his death, let us also remember Alan, who was his beloved grandson and number one fan.While I am certain Glenn was delighted to have Alan join him in the afterlife, he would have been happier if it was 60 years hence before he saw Alan there.Semper Fi, Alan, Semper Fi.
