Molly Jirasek
A community gathered to dedicate a building in honor of a fallen solider.
The post office in Uptown Normal now has the name of Sergeant Joshua Rodgers on it.
Rodgers was killed in action on April 27th 2017 during a raid on ISIS headquarters in Afghanistan
The Bloomington native was 22 years old.
Along with both of his parents in attendance, Representative of the 18th district Darin Lahood was there and says renaming the post office is a small way to pay tribute to the young man’s distinguished service.
“Our post offices are a foundational thing to our communities, and to have that renamed for josh today is great for this community but it’s gonna be a lasting impression to people that walk into this post office, that drive by and learn a little something about josh rogers and the hero that he is,” said Lahood.
Joshua’s mother, Vonda Rodgers says that if her son was there beside her at the dedication he would have been humble and would tell the community that he was just doing his job.
Vonda, thinks what her son did more than just that.
“He stepped forward and he showed up and he took on a job that not a lot of people take on.”
She, and her family of hope that every time someone walks into the normal post office they will remember to thank a service member and think of their son.
