Photo by Diane Cox
Macy Hart, 9, sits next to a wreath made by the Veterans’ Assistance Commission of Madison County and placed in Betty Davis, her great-grandmother’s yard in Hartford in honor of her father, Lance Cpl. Kenneth Corzine. The Marine died as a result of injuries he sustained in a December 2010 bombing in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, just three months before he was discharged from the military. Corzine was 23 when he died Dec. 24, 2010.
HARTFORD — Lance Cpl. Kenneth Corzine of Bethalto was just 23 when he died Dec. 24, 2010, of injuries he sustained 19 days earlier after stepping on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
As a member of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., Corzine was only three months away from fulfilling his military duty when he died.
Corzine’s daughter, Macy Hart, 9, was just a toddler when her father died but said she is proud of what he did for his country and his family.
“I think I was three, maybe four when he died,” Macy said. “He was gone so much with the military when I was little. I’m very proud of my dad. I keep a memory box with things in it to remind me of him.”
James B. Taylor, a retired Navy chief warrant officer, received a call from Corzine’s grandmother, Betty Davis of Hartford, and asked that a memorial wreath be placed in her front yard through Memorial Day in honor of her grandson.
Each municipality was to receive a wreath from the Veterans’ Assistance Commission of Madison County. Davis said she is honored the wreath will be on display and keep Corzine’s memory alive for his daughter. Macy hopes to continue her education to one day become a judge.