Memorial Garden Honors Fallen USMC Pilot

 

By Austin Bruner, OHS Torch Reporter

Recently, Olympia High School has planted a memorial garden in the front of the high school for fallen USMC pilot Reid Nannen , an Olympia graduate from Hopedale, Illinois.

On March 1, 2014, Major Reid Nannen died in an F/A-18C Hornet training accident while flying over Nevada.  Nannen was a member of Olympia High School graduating class of 2000. He was a member of the elite eight baseball teams in 1999 and 2000.  Nannen was also captain of the Olympia swim team, drum line section leader, editor of the school newspaper and an Illinois State Scholar.  He graduated from the University of Illinois in 2004, then attended Naval Aviation training and received his Wings of Gold in 2007.  He served in Afghanistan twice from 2010-2012.  At the time of the accident, Major Nannen was training at TOPGUN Naval Air Station in Fallon, Nev.  He was married to Sarah Simpson Nannen and was the father of four children. His parents were Dale P. and Mary Ann Hays Nannen.

A memorial fund established in Nannen’s name funded  the garden. The garden includes many colorful blooming flowers and a memorial rock engraved with a Spartan head and the words, “Major Reid Nannen Memorial Garden.”   The garden and stone will stand as a reminder to OHS students of a brave man who actively and determinedly  pursued and achieved his dream career while leading an exemplary life.