Aaron Eli Fairbairn was born in February 1989 and was raised in Central Park, Wash. From a young age, Fairbairn liked to keep busy. He worked at Papa Murphy’s Pizza and at Whitney’s Auto Group as a parking lot attendant. He was also a paperboy at 13 and was awarded “Paper Carrier of the Year Award” during his time at The Daily World. As a Boy Scout, he learned to love the outdoors, and also enjoyed riding dirt bikes.

In 2007, Fairbairn graduated from Aberdeen High School. Six months later, in January 2008, he enlisted into the Army. He joined the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, at Fort Richardson, Alaska. In the summer 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom.

On July, 4, 2009, Fairbairn was injured and killed from a Taliban VBIED at Combat Outpost Zerok in Paktika, Afghanistan. He was scheduled to return home that September.

We honor his service.