DANVILLE — Judy Goare doesn’t want you to forget.
She doesn’t want you to forget her son, Shamus O. Goare, a member of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, nicknamed the Night Stalkers.
Shamus O. Goare, a 1994 Danville High School graduate, was killed in Operation Red Wings, a 2005 military mission targeting anti-coalition militias.
Judy Goare received a call from U.S. military officials in the summers 2009, asking if she’d want to go to a San Diego Padres Major League Baseball game in sunny San Diego, California.
The spontaneous request was made to bring family members of fallen Night Stalkers together to honor their loved ones.
Each family member received an engraved baseball bat and ball with the names of all the services members who were killed.
Engraved in the wooden Louisville Slugger was Shamus.
Danville High School students gathered inside the school’s auditorium on Nov. 25 to dedicate the baseball bat for Goare.
Danville superintendent Jason Snively said after the dedication that Goare’s memorabilia will be placed in a glass case in the high school lobby.
As Judy Goare took the stage, looking at her son’s bat, she left the students with a few words.
“The only thing I got to say is my son was a brave, brave, brave man,” Goare said. “But he did one thing to me that caused me some heartache.”
Shamus Goare traveled to Columbus one night to just “talk with the Army,” Judy said.
Little did she know he enlisted. All Shamus needed was Judy’s signature for it to be a done deal.
“I didn’t read between the lines, I guess,” Judy said.
Scared, Judy called Shamus’ father, searching for help.
“I was crying so hard,” Judy said.
“I said, ‘Well, I guess I signed him up in the Army.’ And he said, ‘What’s wrong with that?'”
“Never forget”
Mickey Cochran is an avid collector and a longtime friend of the Goare family. Mickey also served in the Navy from 1965 to 1968.
Judy Goare decided to donate the bat to Cochran due to his connection with the family and being a veteran.
“I gave it to him and then he’s the one that talked to the school and wanted to donate it to the school,” Goare said.
Executive director of Knox County Veterans Services Kevin Henthorn encapsulated Goare as a symbol in the armed forces.
“Shamus is one of us,” Henthorn said. “This isn’t just a story. This isn’t just a name.
“We never forget and never miss an opportunity to thank the family and to try to fill that void left behind by someone no longer with us.”
Henthorn said a piece of memorabilia can hang in Danville High School that’ll forever be a reminder of Goare.
“There’s a phrase that you’ll see on many memorials that says, “Worse than death is to be forgotten,’ ” Henthorn said. “We will never not have Shamus’ name on the tip of our lips. We will never forget his family sacrifice.”