A moving tribute: fallen Marine Sergeant will appear on Chastain’s car during race
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — It’s been ten years since Marine Corps Master Sergeant Aaron Torian lost his life to an IED in Afghanistan.
“Living every day without him, it doesn’t get any easier,” said his wife, Jurley Torian. “He was gone for four months when he was killed, and it’s like I’m just still waiting for him to get home.”
His wife Jurley says when he came home, he was a hands-on dad and very involved in his three children’s lives.
“He was definitely a leader of faith in our family,” she said. “He’s a Christian and he knows the Lord, so I know where he’s at now,” she continued, “and I know I’ll get to see him again someday, but he was just the best person.”
Torian would have hated this type of attention but would have loved the rest of it.
This weekend, he’s being honored by Trackhouse Racing with a commemorative paint scheme on Ross Chastain’s No. 1 car at the Coca-Cola 600.
It’s one of Ross Castain’s favorite races; it’s the only one that holds a moment of remembrance in the middle of the race to honor those who have died serving our country.
“That’s incredible. It’s powerful in the car,” Chastain said, “because we’ve been for half the race competitive, and I’m in my own world, and then for those seconds or minute we’re completely shut off, and I’m not thinking about the race car, and that’s powerful for me.”
A special feature to Chastain’s car: a drawing from Torian’s now 20-year-old son of himself in a uniform saluting his father.
“He actually at nine years old got up and spoke at his funeral on a whim,” Torian said. “Nobody asked him to, and one of the things he said was, ‘he taught me how to ride a bike, and he taught me how to draw,’ and so for him to be able to draw a picture and have it displayed for everyone to see, honoring Aaron, has been really meaningful.”
This race will be Jurley’s first one ever. She already has noise-reduction headphones. More than anything, she’s touched that others want to keep her husband’s memory alive just as much as she does.
“This is definitely something different,” she said. “This is amazing just to know that there’s going to be thousands of people watching and seeing his name and seeing Elijah’s artwork.”
The race is on FOX Sunday at 6:00PM.
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