Lt. Ken Ballard Post Office Dedication Saturday

A long nine years have past since Karen Meredith lost her son in the Iraq War, but now she'll have a piece of him here in Mountain View.

This Saturday, Apr. 13 at 1 p.m., the name of Lt. Ken Ballard will be engraved into the United States Post Office at 211 Hope Street. Congresswoman Anna Eshoo will appear for the dedication as will a color guard from the 129th Rescue Wing from Moffett Field.

On Jan. 10, President Barack Obama signed into law H.R. 6260, which designated the facility as the Lieutenant Kenneth M. Ballard Memorial Post Office, according to The White House Press Secretary.

Ballard's mother shared her happiness that her son's legacy would live on.

Ballard, who graduated from Mountain View High School in 1995, died in Najaf, Iraq on May 30, 2004. He had been awarded the Purple Heart and three Bronze Stars, two with the "V" device for valor.

He served nine years in the Army and was stationed in Germany, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Iraq. He attended Middle Tennessee State University at Murfreesboro on an Army ROTC scholarship. After college he was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2003 and died after an ccidental discharge of a M-240 weapon mounted on his vehicle, Eshoo's office said.

Related stories:

• Obama Designates the Lt. Kenneth M. Ballard Memorial Post Office
• Fallen Army Soldier Might Get Name on Post Office
• Council OKs Support For Post Office Name
• Eshoo Presents Bill to Rename Post Office After Fallen Army Officer
• Senate Approves Bill to Rename Post Office for Iraq Hero

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