Fallen Marine Cpl. Daegan Page will be honored during the Omaha Lancers Ice Hockey Team’s Military Appreciation Night Nov. 12 at Ralston Arena in Ralston, Nebraska.
Page, 23, was one of the 13 service members killed when a suicide bomber detonated his suicide vest Aug. 26 at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force aboard Camp Pendleton, California.
After hearing about the fallen Omaha-native’s love of ice hockey, Visiting Angels — a nationwide organization that provides home care for the elderly and disabled, including companionship, hygiene care and housekeeping — picked the Page family for their Visiting Angels Hometown Hero Seat at Friday’s game against the Sioux Falls Stampede.
“Daegan absolutely loved hockey — playing it and watching it — and we’re certain he would think this event in particular was really cool,” Page’s mother, Wendy Adelson, said in an approved statement provided to Military Times by media specialist Keith Taylor.
“This is his kind of crowd and he will surely be smiling down on all of us,” she said.
The Hometown Hero Seat, sponsored by Visiting Angels is reserved for military members, first responders or their loved ones.
The chosen ‘hero’ or their loved ones are provided with four free tickets to an Omaha Lancers home game in the Visiting Angels Box Suite as well as recognition during the specific game they attend.
Page’s family will not only participate in a ceremonial puck-drop at center ice before the game starts, but will also be presented with a Lancers sweater inscribed with their Marine’s name.
Adelson said that the family is honored to be a part of Friday’s event.
“We are heartbroken to have lost our beloved Daegan, but events like this help reassure us that many, many people recognize the depth of our loss,” Adelson said.
“Daegan was a hero to his family and friends before August 26, when he and 12 other service members gave the ultimate sacrifice while protecting our U.S. citizens and countless others in Afghanistan. We are thankful for all the ways that people across Nebraska and Iowa and especially here in his hometown of Omaha have rallied around us and paid tribute to him.”
The Page family will be participating in a media Q&A session after the puck-drop ceremony and gift presentation.
Rachel is a Marine Corps veteran and a master's candidate at New York University's Business & Economic Reporting program.
