County's military memorial series comes to Battle Ground

Chief Warrant Officer Jonah McClellan remembered with “Never to be Forgotten” ceremony

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The regular series of memorial ceremonies for Clark County soldiers who died while serving overseas brought its latest service to Battle Ground to honor one of the city’s fallen.

On Sept. 21, local military appreciation groups hosted a “Never to be Forgotten” ceremony at Battle Ground’s war memorial in Kiwanis Park for U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Jonah McClellan. McClellan is one of 15 Clark County-raised service members who were killed while fighting in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The Never to be Forgotten ceremonies, put on by the Patriot Guard Riders, the Community Military Appreciation Committee and American Veterans, began in 2018, according to Patriot Guard Riders Southwest Washington Ride Captain Lynn Vaughn. 

McClellan received a memorial service three years prior, which was hosted by the Clark County Veterans War Memorial at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

This year the ceremony came closer to home at Battle Ground’s own memorial, which displays the names of six from the city who died overseas.

Born in 1983 in Duluth, Minnesota, McClellan graduated from Summit View High School in 2002. He joined the U.S. Army the following year. McClellan, who attended flight school, arrived in Afghanistan with the Army 101st Airborne Division in 2010.

On Sept. 21 of that year, McClellan’s Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Qalat, Afghanistan. Only one of 10 military personnel on board survived, Vaughn said.



McClellan received numerous awards in his time in the Army, including the Bronze Star, Air Medal and Army Achievement Medal, among others.

McClellan’s family was presented an etching of his name from the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial in Marseilles, Illinois.

In a statement, McClellan’s family said he loved to fly and was honored to serve in the military. McClellan was a member of the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church and his faith was of greatest importance, his family said. 

“You were so unselfish and so strong in your faith,” the family’s statement read. “You let your light shine wherever you went and were such a good example to those you knew.” 

Wendy Campbell, mother of Andrew Shields, another Army service member killed in Afghanistan, addressed the family during the event, touching on shared experiences since both were close to someone who was killed during a war.  

“It takes a special type of family to be able to raise a hero, being the parent of the hero, being the spouses of the heroes,” Campbell said. “And then to send our heroes off to war, there is nothing that is more honorable than doing that.”