U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Bainbridge Township) said the House of Representatives today passed legislation that will posthumously name the Stow Post Office after Marine Cpl. Joseph Tomci of Stow, who was killed August 2, 2006, by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

The bill, H.R. 3788, was approved by a vote of 415-1.  The Senate is expected to take up the bill, and then it will go to the President for his signature.

Tomci, a graduate of Stow-Munroe Falls High School, was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province.  He was just 21.  He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

 Legislation introduced by LaTourette will name the post office at 3900 Darrow Road in Stow as the “Corporal Joseph A. Tomci Post Office Building.”  LaTourette said Tomci is deserving of this recognition and is beloved in Stow.

 Thousands of people lined the streets and attended his funeral, and a tree was planted in his memory at an elementary school where he’d been pen pals with the students for two years before his death.  An annual gathering on the third anniversary of his death drew more than 150 people in August.  Most of Tomci’s childhood friends sport tattoos in his honor, and each year they wear matching t-shirts to the party in his honor that contains a quote from their late friend.  This year’s saying was, “You guys will be telling your kids about me.”

 LaTourette was one of many to speak at Tomci’s memorial service, which packed the gymnasium of his former high school.  LaTourette thanked his House colleagues for their overwhelming support of the bill.

 “This was a fitting way to honor a proud Marine who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country,” LaTourette said.