Community Corner

Manions: Bin Laden Dead but Work Continues

The family of fallen Doylestown Marine Travis Manion will continue the work they began in his name.

Friends and family of fallen Doylestown Marine Travis Manion already were gathered at the Manion family’s home Sunday when they learned of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Marine buddies of Travis’ were in town for Monday’s annual golf outing and dinner at the to honor the work of the Travis Manion Foundation.

Suddenly, their gathering was made all the more poignant.

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“Travis is looking down on us, and is very happy about how things unfolded yesterday,” sister Ryan Manion said Monday morning, praising the “great accomplishment” of the team that killed bin Laden in a raid on his compound in Pakistan.

“But we don’t forget that there are thousands of men and women still on the ground fighting for our freedom everyday,” Manion continued. “The real jubilation will come for me when their mission is complete and they are all brought home.”

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Travis Manion was killed four years ago, on Sunday, April 29, 2007, by enemy sniper fire while on patrol in the Al Anbar province of Iraq.

Ryan Manion now oversees the foundation begun in his name.

On Monday, about 140 foundation donors and supporters are spending the day golfing at the Doylestown Country Club, Ryan Manion said. Monday night, 300 supporters will gather for dinner and an update on the foundation’s work.

The news that bin Laden is dead is a psychological and moral victory, Manion said. But many of the military members at Monday’s event felt it does not diminish the threat terrorism poses.

“Certainly, people here are happy, but I don’t think it’s going to change anything,” Manion said. “Our goal remains the same; we just have a substantial victory under our belt.”

While the military’s vigilance continues, so, too, will the work of the Travis Manion Foundation.

Started with money that began pouring into the Manion’s Doylestown home in the wake of Travis' death, the foundation today runs three major programs. One supports and benefits wounded veterans and families of the fallen, another grants fellowships to wounded and disabled veterans, and one promotes character and leadership to young people.

It is the last program that especially tugs at Ryan Manion’s heart, as she speaks to thousands of school children about her brother and others who have given their lives in service to their country.

“It’s not what guys like my brother did on their final day that made them heroes,” she said. “It’s the choices they made every day that made them the leaders they were.”

Travis Manion, who attended and , would be 30 this year.

To find out more about his life, or to get involved with the work of the foundation that bears his name, visit the foundation’s website.

On Sunday, May 22, the Central Bucks Rotary is sponsoring the Ride for the Heroes, a motorcyele ride to benefit the Manion Foundation. To register or for more information, click here.


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