TEMPLE, Texas — It is often said that people will remember those who matter the most, even after they die and that is the case for CWO2's David Knadle and Kirk Fuchigami, two pilots killed in action 18 months ago in Afghanistan. On Saturday, they will have a Temple park dedicated in their honor.
"Those were good memories in life and I have all the pictures and all the memories," said Silkey Knadle, David Knadle's wife. "To have him back for a moment, I don't think we'd change anything. We loved hard and we did have a great life."
It's been 548 days since she lost her husband and her hero. He is, to this day, her favorite conversation to have.
"I love talking about David and I love seeing people show up for him," she said. "I love when people comment, send me pictures and share stories of him."
There are many stories to tell because of the lives David Knadle and Fuchigami touched while they was here.
"David and I were good friends, our daughters grew up together," said Kevin Cundiff, the Vice President of the HOA Knadle and Fuchigami lived at. "The last three years they grew up together, play dates, all of that."
Cundiff said he ran to sit on the board of his HOA and took his seat in January, he did it so he could spearhead a project to rename their neighborhood park after Knadle and Fuchigami, true American heroes.
"That's what they were, they were a community," Cundiff said, adding how much both are missed and they should never be forgotten. "That's what I don't want, I want no one to forget that they were here, they were part of and they made this community better."
Silkey Knadle says she's thankful for the outpouring love and support she's gotten the last 18 months. She believes it's kept her husband alive and that means the world to her.
"To celebrate with us, to honor him, to remember him and Kirk," she said, "I think that's how we carry him with us and how we bring his legacy forward."
The park dedication and renaming will be Saturday, May 22 at 1 p.m. at 8901 Lake Pointe Drive in Temple.