Rancho Cucamonga remembers Dylan Merola on 2nd anniversary of Marine’s death

Pictures of the 13 U.S. service members killed in a 2021 bombing in Afghanistan faced a sea of white chairs in Rancho Cucamonga — images of young men and women wearing their uniforms who are now remembered for making the ultimate sacrifice.

Family, friends, community members and Marines old and new came to pay their respects and show support for the families left behind on Saturday, Aug. 26, the second anniversary of the attack. The Marine Corp League Detachment 1459 of Redlands distributed water and kids dressed in military fatigues as part of the Young Marines flitted in and out of the crowd picking up trash.

The city of Rancho Cucamonga hosted a dedication ceremony honoring the life Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola and the other 12 service members who died in the Aug. 26, 2021 suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, as the city was evacuated after the country fell to the Taliban.

Elsewhere in the Inland Empire, communities gathered to pay their respects to Merola and other local Marines who died in the attack. In Norco, the hometown of Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, the Fallen 13 Memorial Flower Garden held a candlelight remembrance and in La Quinta, the city unveiled its Gold Star Family Monument with Cpl. Hunter Lopez‘s name on it.

The ceremony in Rancho Cucamonga included the dedication of the 210 Freeway overpass in honor of Merola and a vigil for the 13 lives lost that day.

Legislation to rename the overpass in Merola’s memory was introduced by Assemblymember James Ramos and passed in 2022.

The city held an informal dedication ceremony on Oct. 28 in a parking lot overlooking the 210 Freeway, where a sign will hang on the overpass on either side of the freeway. The location at Lemon and Haven avenues was chosen for the proximity to the family, and it will join Merola’s Gold Star banner as a permanent tribute to the Marine’s memory.

“From day one, before I even moved on a piece of legislation, I reached out to the family for their permission to move forward and they gave it,” said Ramos. “We worked together side by side throughout this legislative process. So today actually seeing the sign constructed brings everything to fruition and it honors the Merola family and not only honors Lance Corporal Dylan Merola it honors all of our military who have fallen in the line of duty.”

Ramos said his office is working with Caltrans and Merola’s family to install the signs and hopes the work will be done in early September.

Merola was a 2019 graduate of Los Osos High School and an avid member of the theater program there. He was born in Upland and spent most of his life in Rancho Cucamonga.

Merola’s high school theater director, Randy Shorts, remembers Merola for his kindness and his bright smile.

Shorts told the crowd that Merola lived a life full of kindness, and he encouraged all in attendance to do the same.

Merola was stationed in Camp Pendleton with the 2nd Battalion. He was on his first deployment in Jordan and was set to come home to the states before he was rerouted to Afghanistan to assist in the evacuation efforts in August 2021.

Merola was holding security through the Abbey Gate, when a suicide bomber detonated his vest, according to Merola’s mother, Cheryl Rex.

He and the 12 other service members were awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.

As Merola’s mother took to the podium, the crowd came to their feet to applaud her. Rex thanked the audience, the city, state legislators, and the Marine Corp League for their dedication to seeing the renaming of the overpass through and for remembering her son and all of those who were lost.

“All 13 of these kids right here, I hope you guys remember their names,” she said.

Merola’s grandmother Clarinda Matsuoka, remembered the pride her grandson felt when he became a Marine and the stories other Marines shared with her — how Merola would carry someone else’s gear when it became too much for them or share his own gear when someone was missing something.

“That was Dylan, always helping others before himself,” Matsuoka said.

As the vigil concluded, someone started to sing the Marine Corps Hymn. The sound grew louder as members of the crowd added their voices, ending the song with a loud “Oorah.”