Honor your hero with thoughts, memories, images and stories.
Please tell us a funny story about your child.
Sam attended Pinellas Park Baptist Temple as a young boy. He absolutely loved his teacher Ms Perkins. He had her in Pre-k for a couple years. He learned all the books of the Bible at age 4. He learned them by singing them. One evening while singing them I overheard him " genesis, exodus, a big ten x, Numbers, etc. I stopped him and asked him to repeat it. "Genesis, Exodus, a big ten x, Numbers, ..... I laughed and said Sammy it is Leviticus, not a big ten x. He said no Mommy Ms Perkins said it is a big ten x.. He would not believe me no matter how much I explained it. The next day I took him up to Ms. Perkins and had to have her tell him herself. She just laughed. But she had to tell him.. Lol
Tell us about your child’s personality.
Happy, funny, outgoing, confident and very very intelligent.
How has the loss of your child impacted your family?
It has forever changed our family. It will never be the same. Everyday is a struggle, but the world keeps going, and it does not stop.
What did you love most about your child?
His sweet nature and sense of humor.
What did your child enjoy most about serving in the military?
He enjoyed working on the CH 53 heavy lift helicopter. He enjoyed being a crew chief.
What did your child want to be when they grew up?
He wanted to work on aircraft. He loved helicopters.
What do you miss most about your child?
Being with him, talking with him, sharing life's moments. His way of always making people laugh.
What has been the greatest challenge since the loss of your child?
Just going on without him is a challenge. Hearing his sweet baby boy tell me how he wished he had known his Daddy breaks my heart. My life's goal is to make sure he knows him through me and others who knew him. I guess my greatest challenge is to make sure he knows his daddy, so that means I GO On .....on to teach and to make sure he is known by his only son and to not be forgotten by others.
What inspired your child to join the military?
He loved helicopters and was patriotic. He wanted to serve his country and thought that every young man and woman should serve their country if possible. He loved his country.
What message would you like to share with families with a loved one still serving in the military?
Be supportive and proud of your child. Tell them you love them every chance you get. Thank them for serving our country.
What message would you like to share with other Gold Star families?
Learn to live again. Don't give up on life. Stay strong for the rest of your family. Your child would want you to enjoy your life. That is so hard to do after the lost of a child.. I am still learning to do this after eight years. Put your energy into something you enjoy. Helping Veterans and staying involved and meeting with other Gold Star families helps..
What was your child like in high school?
He was voted Prom Prince one year. Sam set the trends. He was a leader, never a follower. Sam was described to me by teachers and other adults as a genius. He was also described to me from other adults as respectful and polite. . He was very handsome with beautiful crystal clear sky blue eyes , but over everything else he always brought laughter to everyone he was around. He was so much fun. Everyone loved him. He was a very well mannered and responsible young man.
What was your child most passionate about?
He was most passionate about learning. He enjoyed taking things apart to see how they worked. He loved spending time with his family.
What was your Hero like as a child?
He was such a sweet and very intelligent child. Very well behaved and loving.
Which hobbies or activities did your child enjoy most?
Flying his remote helicopters, playing videos, dance revolution and making people laugh!! Spending time with family and friends and especially Thanksgiving get together with family.
Marine one of 10 killed in crash off African coast
VILLA RICA, Ga. — When Ada Large opened the door to her home late Friday night, there were half a dozen men in military uniforms standing there, including two chaplains.
It had to be bad news.
“It seemed like 100 people were on my porch when I opened the door that night,” Large said. “When I opened the door, you can imagine how I felt to see that. I was speechless.”
The men were there to tell her that her son, Lance Cpl. Sam Large Jr., was one of 10 military personnel killed when a pair of Marine helicopters crashed off the eastern coast of Africa.
Large, 21, was aboard one of the choppers that crashed in the Gulf of Aden, near the northern coastal town of Ras Siyyan.
““It’s never expected,” his mother told The Times-Georgian of Carrollton. “He was in a non-hostile country and we thought he was pretty safe, and this has really come as a shock to us.”
Large was deployed to Djibouti as part of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, with the mission of fighting terrorism in nine countries in northern Africa as well as in Yemen.
When he enlisted as a student at Villa Rica High School, his mother at first refused to sign. He was only 17.
Large finally won out by telling his mother that he was going to enlist eventually anyway, and at that point he had the opportunity to get the job in the Marines that he really wanted.
“A recruiter came to the high school, and he wanted to join,” Ada Large said. “At the time he was 17, and I did not want to sign for him. We waited awhile and I was hoping he wouldn’t and change his mind, but he persisted.
“One evening when the recruiter was here, he begged me to sign the papers so he would be guaranteed the job he wanted,” she said. “At that point, what could I do? So I signed for him.”
The 2003 Villa Rica graduate left at the end of the summer for a five-year enlistment.
“He enjoyed what he did,” his mother said. “He was hoping to get a job when he got out working with aircraft, because he was a crew chief. He was in charge of the maintenance, inside and out, and he was in charge with whether they went up or not.
“He knew how to completely take them apart and put them back together, so he was hoping to find something around here that he could do with civilian aircraft.”
Large left a wife, Whitney, 18, of Carrollton and their 9-month-old son, Tyler. They were married just before Christmas in 2004.
He also is survived by two sisters, Samantha Large of Phenix City, Ala., and Courtney Large, a student at Villa Rica High.
21, of Villa Rica, Ga.; assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464, Marine Air Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force, New River, N.C.; deployed to Djibouti as part of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa; killed Feb. 17 when two CH-53 helicopters crashed into the Gulf of Aden in the vicinity of Ras Siyyan, northern Djibouti, while flying a training mission in the Godoria Range area. Also killed were Marine 1st Lt. Brandon R. Dronet, Sgt. James F. Fordyce, Sgt. Donnie Leo F. Levens, Cpl. Matthieu Marcellus, Sgt. Jonathan E. McColley, Lance Cpl. Nicholas J. Sovie and Capt. Bryan D. Willard; and Air Force Senior Airman Alecia S. Good and Staff Sgt. Luis M. Melendez Sanchez.