U.S. Marine killed in training accident to be honored with procession into Bellingham
Whatcom County will get an opportunity to honor a Bellingham-born U.S. Marine who was killed in a training accident off the coast of San Diego last month as he arrives back in the city he considered home.
The public is invited to honor Lance Cpl. Jack Ryan Ostrovsky during a procession once it arrives in Bellingham Monday evening, Aug. 24, according to a Facebook post by the Support Officers of Whatcom County.
Ostrovsky was one of nine U.S. service members who died July 30 when a Marine landing craft sank in hundreds of feet of water off the Southern California coast near San Clemente Island.
Ostrovsky will be escorted to Bellingham by a motorcade that is expected to arrive at approximately 8:30 p.m., according to the post. The procession will travel northbound on Interstate 5 to Sunset Drive (exit 255), turn west on Sunset and will follow Sunset/West Illinois Street to Northwest Avenue, turn south and follow Northwest/Elm Street to Broadway, before turning south on Broadway and concluding at Westford Funeral Home at 1301 Broadway.
Frequent updates about the procession’s location will be posted on the Support Officers of Whatcom County Facebook page, which reminded those who attend to follow the governor’s rules for social distancing and wearing masks.
Though he enlisted in Bend, Oregon, Ostrovsky was born and grew up in Bellingham, loved hiking Whatcom County’s trails, developed his desire to join the military from spending time with law-enforcement co-workers of his father, Peter Ostrovsky, and graduated from Sehome High School in 2018.
“Jack was loyal to the city and state he grew up in, he was loyal to his friends and he was loyal to the Marines,” his mother, Lynn Ostrovsky, told The Bellingham Herald.
Jack was scheduled to be promoted to Lance Corporal at a pinning ceremony aboard the USS Somerset on Aug. 2 — three days after he died — but the U.S. Marine Corps promoted him posthumously because the paperwork had already been filed, Peter told The Herald.
A unit memorial was held Friday morning, Aug. 21, Peter said, adding, “It was well done. Proud of them all.”
Peter’s former Whatcom County coworkers are attempting to memorialize Jack, the outstanding young man he was and his service to our country with a bench in Bellingham. Organizers said they are currently working with the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department to determine where the bench will be placed.
Donations can be made through WECU with checks made payable to “In The Memory of Jack Ostrovsky” with the memo line stating “The Jack Ostrovsky Memorial Fund” or checks can be mailed to P.O. Box 9750, Bellingham, WA 98227. Donations can also be made through Venmo account ID: Jacks-memorial-fund.
