Redmond High School (RHS) has plans to create a memorial to honor alumni of the school killed in military service to their country.

The plan to create this memorial was prompted by the recent death of Michael Montgomery, a 1991 RHS graduate, who was recently killed in southern Afghanistan. Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael P. Montgomery, 36, died when the MH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed while returning from the scene of a firefight with suspected Taliban drug traffickers in western Afghanistan.

While Chief Warrant Officer Montgomery’s photo will be the first and will be installed by Jan. 27, 2010, this memorial will be an ongoing effort, with hopes that the memorial will eventually display a photograph of every RHS alum/veteran, taken during each graduate’s high school years and a photograph taken during military service. It will also have a plaque created with the dates of the veteran’s birth and death.

Redmond High School was established in 1964, and the school’s memorial would ideally honor veterans from all of the conflicts during those years.

The school is asking for the public’s assistance in gathering this information. Anyone with knowledge of RHS graduates who were killed in action, please forward it to: Redmond High School, 17272 NE 104th Street, Redmond, WA 98052; or e-mail Lhiggins@lwsd.org. You may also call RHS at (425) 498-7143.