Veteran of the Day Graphic of Brandon Lara

Veteran of the Day graphic created by Alexandra Craig for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Marine Corps Veteran Brandon Lara. Brandon served during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Passionate about serving his country, Brandon enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after turning 18 in 2006. After completing boot camp, Brandon was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton, California. During his enlistment, Brandon volunteered for two combat tours in Iraq.

Brandon was killed in action on July 19, 2009, while supporting combat operations in Anbar Province, Iraq. He is interred at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

During his enlistment, Brandon reached the rank of lance corporal. For actions during his service, Brandon was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He is remembered as being loving and dedicated to his friends, family and country.

We honor his service.

Memorial Day Awareness

This month, the VA’s National Cemetery Administration is partnering with Carry the Load, a nonprofit organization that connects Americans to the sacrifices made daily by the U.S. military, Veterans, first responders and their families to commemorate the “Memorial May” awareness campaign. The VA will share the stories of service members and Veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice in “Veteran of the Day” posts leading up to Memorial Day 2019.

Contributors

Editor: Geoffrey Townsley

Fact checker: Jordan Gossett

Graphic design: Alexandra Craig

Topics in this story

acbronze starcarry the loadIraqmarine corpspurple heartVeteran

Leave a comment

The comments section is for opinions and feedback on this particular article; this is not a customer support channel. If you are looking for assistance, please visit Ask VA or call 1-800-698-2411. Please, never put personally identifiable information (SSAN, address, phone number, etc.) or protected health information into the form — it will be deleted for your protection.

3 Comments

  1. Alex Weber May 28, 2019 at 20:52

    A real hero. Thank you for your service.

  2. Mark Kotnour May 23, 2019 at 17:52

    All heroes who paid the ultimate price for our Country. We salute and thank you for your service!

  3. Robert Bostic May 20, 2019 at 11:20

    We honor the service of Marine Corps Veteran Brandon Lara.

Comments are closed.

More Stories