The Bells USMC Cpl Nicholas J. Dieruf was killed in action on 8 April 2004 in Iraq, he was 21 years old. Nich joined the Marines in October 2000. He returned home to Lexington, Kentucky and married Emily on 3 January, 2004. At their wedding, instead of throwing rice, everyone chimed little bells for the newlyweds. Nich returned to Iraq on 18 February. When Nich died, someone gifted Emily one of those bells from their wedding day. Emily took the bell and tied it to a flag at Nich’s grave. Whenever she visited Nich, no matter the weather, even if there was no breeze, the bell would ring. Emily and her husband Dwayn came to Alaska in 2021 and climbed Gold Star Peak to honor Nich. This week, she and Dwayn returned to Alaska, this time with her parents Pops and Queenie, and their three children to once again honor Nich. The seven of them did just that, on Memorial Day. The day before their climb, Emily’s dear friend Emily back in Kentucky reached out to me in a panic with a special request. She wanted me to find a small bell to give to Emily for her to carry and ring along the trail to give her strength…”strength when your legs begin to ache, and your heartbeat is accelerating and you begin to question or doubt yourself, grab hold of the bell, wrap your fist around it tightly, and hold it to your heart and remember you have the strength to get to the top." She went on to say, “May this climb ahead of you, help heal you, and allow the younger generation with you to embrace just exactly what our freedom means. Love from Kentucky." We secured bells, gold bells, and presented them to all the climbers (including teammates and Gold Stars Josh and his daughter Cora) before beginning our ascent. On the summit, we found Nich’s dog tag on the Honor Tower, and Emily decided to attach her bell to Nich’s tag. The bell is a perfect addition to the sounds all the dog tags make as they sing in the wind. They all tackled the mountain on a beautiful, sunny morning, where in true Alaska fashion, it rained, hailed, and even a few snowflakes fell on us on the summit, none of which silenced The Bells. (fb)

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