Suffield Post Office Will Be Rededicated To Honor Cpl. Stephen Bixler Tuesday

DATE:
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

TIME:
9:30 a.m.

LOCATION:
Suffield Middle School Auditorium
350 Mountain Road
Media space will be reserved in the front

SUFFIELD —A ceremony will mark the dedication of the Suffield Post Office to honor the late Cpl. Stephen R. Bixler, USMC, on Tuesday, June 17, in the auditorium of Suffield Middle School at 350 Mountain Road.

The program will include Cpl. Bixler’s parents and U.S. Rep. Joseph D. Courtney, who authored legislation that led to the change of name for the Post Office building in Suffield. The public is invited to the 9:30 am event.

Cpl. Bixler, a Suffield native, was killed while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Al Anbar province, Iraq on May 4, 2006. He was 20 years old and on his second tour in Iraq after service in Haiti as well. He was posthumously honored with the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

Stephen Buoniconti, postmaster of Suffield, and Edward F. Phelan Jr., District Manager for the Postal Service’s Connecticut District, will also be on the program. A letter from Governor Jodi Rell will be read to the assembly, which will include 200 students from the Middle School in the audience.

"Stephen touched the lives of many during his life and this is one small way to remember the sacrifice he made to our nation and the immeasurable joy he gave to those who knew him," stated Congressman Courtney. "This is also a reminder of the true cost of war and acknowledges all those who served our nation."

A graduate of Suffield High School Suffield, Bixler was an Eagle Scout and track star. Members of Cpl. Bixler’s Boy Scout troop, Troop 260, will participate.

Music will be provided by the Suffield Middle School Band and Chorale. Kitson Richardson, from the Postal Service’s Processing and Distribution Center in Hartford, will sing the National Anthem with the school’s band.

Suffield, a town of about 14,000 people, is 20 miles north of Hartford on the Massachusetts border. The Postal Service’s Connecticut District serves more than 3.5 million postal customers over more than 5,000 square miles through 218 post offices and an additional 80 stations and branches.

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