(Tribune News Service) — Two Yorba Linda fallen heroes have not been forgotten in the 13 years since their death serving in Afghanistan, and they will continue to be remembered together after Friday’s dedication of the Cottle Centanni Post Office Building.

The Yorba Linda branch on Eureka Avenue has been renamed in honor of U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Major Robert J. Cottle and Lance Cpl. Rick J. Centanni, who were killed in March 2010 when their armored vehicle ran over a roadside bomb.

Their death hit the Yorba Linda community as well as local law enforcement hard. At 19, Centanni was a recent graduate of Esperanza High, and his father was serving with the Santa Ana Police Department while Cottle, 45, was a high-ranking SWAT officer for the Los Angeles Police Department.

“Coming back to Yorba Linda just warms my heart so much,” said Sarah Leas, Centanni’s mother, remembering 13 years ago next week when the family drove through town in the funeral caravan “and looked at every person lining the streets. The love we saw.”

“And that’s all we as a family of a lost hero can ask for, don’t forget our loved ones,” said Leas, who now lives in Arizona. “Don’t forget the rest of the loved ones and our heroes that we’ve lost.”

Centanni had intended to follow in his father’s law enforcement footsteps, and several officers attended Friday’s ceremony, along with members of the LAPD. Leas told them, “I can tell you that more than half of these people that are here, that Rick looked up to every one of them to be the man that he was going to be.”

“He was surrounded by that strength, that honor, that integrity,” she said.

“It grows from all of us,” she said, “It’s up to us as parents to instill that in these young men and women so that they can grow into the heroes that we need.”

She also thanked the volunteers who had “put so many hundreds of hours” into the Centanni-Cottle Memorial 5K that was held for many years after the men’s deaths, though canceled recently by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rep. Young Kim led the effort in Congress to get the post office renamed, pointing out during Friday’s ceremony that it took the support of the state’s entire delegation to pass. President Joe Biden also had to sign off. Kim also introduced the bill that dedicated a Placentia post office earlier in the week to U.S. Army Pfc. Jang Ho Kim, who died nearly 17 years ago in Iraq.

“I am really proud to continue to represent the city of Yorba Linda,” she said, adding that the community has “recognized and honored so many heroes in the community, local heroes. And you do this every year, every chance that we have an opportunity to honor them.”

Speaking to the men’s families, Kim said, “Your family members and your loved ones gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we in America can live in freedom. As family members, you went through the difficult times and also gave the tremendous sacrifice.

“America faces a lot of challenges. But despite those challenges, we know and we agree,” she said, “that the United States remains the beacon of hope, the beacon of freedom, the beacon of democracy.”

Staff Writer Hanna Kang contributed to this report.

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