A former Wheatley native who died while fighting overseas in Syria is being honoured during a ceremony in his hometown.
The Wheatley Business Improvement Association is holding a peace memorial tree ceremony on Sunday, in remembrance of John Robert Gallagher, who was repatriated back into the local community on November 20.
Four evergreen trees have been placed at the four corners of the main intersection in Wheatley, which will be decorated with memorial peace ribbons during the event.
"[The trees] are lit and they're all done in white and blue to commemorate peace," says Organizer Katherine Burton. "There's so much fear in the world right now and so many problems, I thought it was a nice thing to do."
The ceremony begins at 6pm at Ivan Coulter Memorial Park with an introduction from Gallagher's mother, Valerie Carder. Afterwards, a sermon and the showing of a music video will take place before the decorations are placed on the trees.
Gallagher was killed on November 4 while fighting alongside U.S. backed Kurdish forces in Syria against the Islamic State terrorist group, also known as ISIS.
