Airport Veterans Lounge Dedicated To Fallen Marine, TPD Officer

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- A Homefront honor took place Friday night for a fallen Marine and Tulsa police officer. The Veterans' Resource Center at Tulsa International Airport now bears the name of Corporal Jared Shoemaker.

Shoemaker graduated first in his police academy class and deployed to Iraq in 2005. He was killed by a roadside bomb in Fallujah.

Shoemakers' brothers were on hand for the dedication of the facility that will be many soldiers' last stop before boarding a plane to the battlefield.

"Hopefully this will be a room where they can laugh, and they can hug and pray with each other before they serve me and my family and my kids in my place," said Ben Shoemaker.

Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor, Police Chief Ron Palmer and representatives of the U.S. Marine Corps were also on hand for the dedication.

"The ultimate sacrifice made by Cpl. Shoemaker for his country is certainly indicative of the dedicated service he provided as well to the citizens of Tulsa while an officer of the Tulsa Police Department," Palmer said.

Corporal Shoemaker is a graduate of Tulsa's Edison High School and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah.