ELKHART — Seven years after his son died, Marvin Trost Jr. is still working to keep alive the memory of soldiers who have died in the name of freedom.

Trost, a longtime Elkhart area resident, said he worked with Rep. Tim Neese to have the State House issue a certificate deeming Oct. 21 as Right To Freedom Day.

At 9 a.m. Saturday, Mayor Dick Moore will present a plaque with the proclamation to Joyce Adcock, the mother of Marvin Lee Trost III who died at the age of 28 from injuries sustained from a bomb in Iraq on Dec. 5, 2004.

Trost said he chose Oct. 21 because it coincides with the date last year when President Barack Obama declared the Iraq war to have concluded.

Trost said he wants people to remember that American soldiers have died so that people in other countries could enjoy some measure of freedom.

“I hated losing my son, but I don’t feel I’m any different from any other parent,” Trost said.

“In one way, the war is never over. The loss is never over, but the declaration can be named forever,” he said.

Trost said he gathered support for the proclamation by gathering names on a petition. He estimated he had about 5,000 names on the petition.

Trost served in the military from 1985 to 1990.

He said he would like to take the proclamation to the national level through Congressman Joe Donnelly.

Neese said Thursday he was happy to help and said he thinks it is important to assist and support families of fallen soldiers and to honor the efforts of soldiers who have died for their country.

The proclamation will be separate from the Freedom Ride and the Bike Night Rally, which is happening later on Saturday in Elkhart.

Trost and organizers with Freedom Ride agreed to conduct the events separately to avoid the appearance of one soldier’s death overshadowing the deaths of other soldiers.