South Portland has recently renamed a park after a deceased paratrooper killed in Iraq 16 years ago.

The Portland Press Herald reports that the park is named after Sgt. Jason Swiger, who frequented the park as a kid, climbing trees and playing hide-and-seek, manhunt and tag.

He later joined the military and was part of the 82nd Airborne Division. But his time away didn’t loosen his connection to the park. While away from duty, he visited the playground again.

“He sat there for the longest time just watching the kids play. He was making sure everything was good and making sure his park was good,” said Jennifer Kirk, a friend of the Swiger family who grew up a few doors down.

He was known for his generosity and larger-than-life personality, but his life was unfortunately cut short on March 25, 2007, when he was killed in action by a suicide bomber in Iraq. He was 24. He and three other soldiers had left the protection of their Humvee to hand out candy to children after their convoy stopped, showing his generosity till the very end.

16 years and around $92,000 through a Community Development Block Grant later, the city officially opened the new playground at the Sgt. Jason W. Swiger Memorial Park last week. A plaque reminds people to “always extend your hand in friendship”, a value Swiger cared about deeply.

“I think that would be a beautiful way to keep his memory alive and highlight the joy that park brought to his childhood,” Swiger’s widow, Alanna, wrote to the City Council before the unanimous vote to name the park for him.

To read the original Portland Press Herald article, click here.