BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — “It was the worst day of my life. And will be the worst day of my life," said Dean Coleman.
July 24th, 2009 Coleman got the call his son, Army Specialist Justin Coleman, was killed in action.
Justin’s unit was patrolling a village in Afghanistan when a Taliban combatant shot him.
“It killed, they said, by the time he hit the ground, he probably died," said Coleman.
Justin never made it to his 21st birthday.
Growing up he loved computers and was in the marching band at Nature Coast Technical High School.
His dad says he enjoyed life and wanted to go to college after the Army.
“I kind of missed the things that we would have done that we don’t have the opportunity to do together now. I’ll always have his memories, but the things that we would have done," said Coleman.
Justin blogged during his time in Afghanistan and wrote he wasn’t afraid of dying.
But he was scared of being forgotten.
That’s why his father has been on a mission to get this downtown Brooksville post office renamed in his son’s honor.
“Anything we can do to keep his name alive. Let people know he was here. He served his country, and he gave his life for our community," said his stepmother Pepper Coleman.
Representative Gus Bilirakis authored the bill to make the name change happen.
Every member of Florida’s Congressional Delegation co-sponsored the legislation that would rename the United States Post Office at 207 E. Fort Dade Avenue in Brooksville as the “Specialist Justin Dean Coleman Memorial Post Office.”
“A true hero Mr. Speaker, Specialist Coleman made the ultimate sacrifice, earned the Bronze Star, and will forever be remembered for his bravery," Billrakis said in the House of Representatives while presenting the bill.
Now the Senate will vote on the name change to make it official.
It will be a fitting tribute because Dean, an Army veteran himself, worked for the postal service for more than 30 years.
“I’ll just be happy to have his name out there and people can see his picture and know who he was," said Coleman.
This post office is close to the courthouse memorial dedicated to five military men from Hernando County killed while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Justin Coleman is one of them.
“There’s not a day that goes by..he’s always with me," his father said.
