Service members and dependants can purchase a 3-by-5 inch brick for $300 to honor a fallen service member or simply say thank you in the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum as part of their Walk of Memories Memorial Brick Program.

Each brick contains enough space for three lines with 20 characters each. Upon purchasing, they will also receive a miniature replica brick for keepsake.

The money from the purchased bricks will go to the expansion of the museum. Once the capacity of 500 bricks is filled, the area will be extended to accommodate more, commented retired Brig. Gen. Bob Butcher, chairmen of the board of directors for the museum.

The Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum recently laid more than 280 bricks along the sidewalk of Memorial Park that leads to the dozens of aircraft the museum dons.

“It’s a wonderful way to remember someone that was special to them in a way that everyone will see,” said Butcher.

Aviation icons like John F. “Jack” Bolt, the only Marine who had a propeller “Ace” and jet “Ace” during the Korean War, is commemorated in the bricks, along with other aviation legends. Although most of the bricks represent Naval and Marine aviators from past wars and generations, some represent 3rd MAW Marines who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Recently, Donna Fleury-Brown, mother of Cpl. Gregory M. Fleury, a crew chief for Marine Light Attack Squadron 169 who was killed in Afghanistan Oct. 26, bought a brick in memory of her fallen son.

Fleury-Brown visited the museum and decided that it would be a fitting tribute to honor him, said Susan Hathaway the public affairs director for the museum.

Anyone interested in recognizing a service member by buying a brick can contact museum volunteers at 858-693-1723.

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