South Lyon has not forgotten about their fallen hero, 19-year-old Dominic Ciaramitaro, and now they are taking steps to make sure he is never forgotten.
His alma mater, South Lyon High School, is getting a new football field and plaza entrance that will be named after the marine who lost his life in Afghanistan several years ago.
The VFW South Lyon Love-Hill Post 1224 brought the idea before the school board recently and it was approved.
“We just said wait a minute there is nothing in town to remind us Dominic and his sacrifice for this country,” said John McMahon with the VFW. “So went to the first committee meeting and they suggested we make a motion and we did.”
“My wife always told me, 'don’t you get it? These people take care of their own,'” said John Ciaramitaro, Dominic’s father. “And they do. This was a really difficult thing for us but the people in South Lyon are amazing.”
After Dominic, a 2009 graduate of South Lyon High School, made the ultimate sacrifice in 2011, the whole city rallied around his family.
From a YouTube video, a large number of people can be seen lining a street with signs as Dominic was brought home to be buried in 2011.
“Dominic and his marine brothers and all these veterans, you can’t say enough about them,” said Ciaramitaro. “They are protecting everything that we hold dear.”
The Ciaramitaros are so honored by the city’s and school district’s dedication to memorialize their son who was once was a South Lyon High School football player.
“Hoping to have a plaque there and some type of monument in the plaza,” said South Lyon Community Schools Board of Education Trustee Tandy Clark. “Hoping it turns out really nice.”
“I know my son will have a big smile on his face,” said John Ciaramitaro. “It was something he would really enjoy and his sister Gracie who is 10 year will take a lot of pride in it as well.”
Dominic’s 10-year-old sister, a cheerleader, will likely one day perform on the field named after her brother.
They hope to have the new field open just in time for Veterans Day of 2016.
