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Marine team makes a special visit to the Caldwell Night Rodeo

Posted at 9:02 PM, Aug 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-17 23:02:51-04

An honored guest of the Caldwell Night Rodeo made a special visit in the valley. 

The Marine Mounted Color Guard brought some light to the mother of a slain Idaho marine. It may take a lot to travel the country with horses in tow, but the Marine Mounted Color Guard didn't think twice about making an extra trip for a fallen comrade.

"Once they heard it was for a fallen soldier's mom, these guys stepped up and didn't care about appointments, they made sure to be there to visit his mom." says Danny Pugmire with the Idaho Veterans' Garden.

The only Marine Mounted Color Guard has been making regular appearances at the Caldwell Night Rodeo. And Julia Cochran, mother of Lance Corporal Kenneth Cochran, who died in Afghanistan in 2012, was hoping for a meeting.

"These guys are great, the cream of the crop, and to be able to meet them is fabulous," she said. And these marines were on a mission to make it happen in the Idaho Veterans Garden where a plot bears the name of Julia's son.

"It meant the world to me." And even though Julia is not a horse person, she loves everything about the mounted color guard.

"Kind of like watching a flag wave.  It's just, you feel patriotic and proud to be an American."
The Caldwell Night Rodeo runs through Saturday night and tomorrow is Patriot Night.