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Medal ensures Jamie Larcombe’s memory lives on in Kangaroo Island

IN 2011, Jamie Larcombe was the 23rd Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan. Today, a medal in the Kangaroo Island Football League ensures his memory lives on.

23/03/16 - Steve and Trish Larcombe, parents of Jamie Larcombe, 21, a sapper in the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, killed in action in Afghanistan, at home in Stokes Bay on Kangaroo Island. Picture Dean Martin
23/03/16 - Steve and Trish Larcombe, parents of Jamie Larcombe, 21, a sapper in the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment, killed in action in Afghanistan, at home in Stokes Bay on Kangaroo Island. Picture Dean Martin

JOSH Graham shrugs, confessing the finer details of his acceptance speech are now a little hazy.

“But I think I threw a few swear words in there and got the crowd laughing,” he grins.

“I reckon I just said I appreciate how much all the boys overseas are doing for us. That, and how Jamie is always in our hearts.”

Graham is one of five men who, since 2011, has won the Jamie Larcombe Medal as best on ground in Kangaroo Island Football League’s Anzac Day game.

The medal is named in honour of Sapper Jamie Larcombe, who was killed in the line of duty in February, 2011, aged 21, while serving in Afghanistan.

Larcombe’s parents, Steven and Tricia, have presented the medal to one player every year in the match nearest to Anzac Day involving Larcombe’s former club Western District.

David Westbrook was the inaugural winner in 2011, followed by Nathan Trethewey (2012), Floyd Freeman (2013), Graham (2014) and Dustin Roberts last year.

“To be one of them, it’s an honour and a privilege,” says Graham, a “Wonks” clubman with Larcombe.

“Just because of the bloke he was but also winning it for the footy club and for Tricia and Steve and (daughters) Emily, Annmarie and April.

“Every year, it’s big for our club. The coach, he talked about the medal in his speech leading up and got all us boys fired up. Gave me goosebumps.

“So it was good that I could perform for them, and for Jamie.”

February 19 marked five years since the loss of Larcombe, who became the 23rd Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan since troops arrived in 2001.

Today, that number stands at 41.

Steven and Tricia were among a group of grieving parents of fallen soldiers invited by the Australian Defence Force to visit Afghanistan three years ago.

Now, sitting in their home overlooking scenic Stokes Bay on the northern coast of Kangaroo Island, Steven says the visit to the defunct Tarin Kowt base helped them to process the tragedy.

“I got to within 20km of where Jamie was killed,” he says. “I think there’s something inside a parent that just needs to know.

“But, really, we don’t know what they’re fighting over. We saw the place. They’re not fighting over Stokes Bay, that’s for sure.”

Mum Tricia says the now traditional Anzac game ceremony carried overwhelming pride for her family.

“It’s one of those medals that they do play hard to win,” she says. “We’ve found it doesn’t seem to matter what team they’re from, they all seem really privileged to win it.

“So it’s an emotional day, not just for us but the person receiving it, too.

“It’s an honour because you know they’ve worked hard for it and it means something to them to have a medal with Jamie’s name on it.”

Tricia says the medal’s greatest gift is ensuring her son’s memory lives on in the Kangaroo Island community.

“He’ll never be forgotten, will he?” she says.

“It’s a reminder that, yeah, he was just a country boy but he loved his country and he loved his footy.”

This story is published in the Sunday Mail’s Country Football 2016 magazine, available with country papers on Sunday.

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Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/local-footy-sa/medal-ensures-jamie-larcombes-memory-lives-on-in-kangaroo-island/news-story/636d6c2cdf3a82506ff8d55e5b328770