Poway High Alumni honor fallen graduates

The Titan Museum at Poway High School is honoring three graduates who were killed in action.

The museum, in the F building on campus at Poway High School, now has a plaque honoring the graduates hanging near the Titan Hall of Fame.

The plaque was unveiled Tuesday during a small ceremony which included alumni, staff, active duty military, veterans, school faculty and about 70 students from world history and U.S. history classes.

Honored at the ceremony were Private First Class Michael William Mulick, who graduated from Poway High School in 1965; Sgt. 1st Class David L. McDowell, who graduated in 1996; and Specialist Kenneth E. Necochea Jr., who graduated in 2007.

McDowell’s sister, Becky McDowell, and her daughter were able to attend the ceremony. “It’s cool (to be honored here in the museum) because he went here, and Poway High School has been a big part of our lives,” said Becky McDowell, who said her parents also attended Poway High School, as do her children. “It’s cool that he’ll be around and acknowledged (in the museum).”

Alumni Association president Larry Ott said that they worked with Bill Baugh, retired U.S. Army colonel and Poway High alum, and Mike Frazier, retired U.S. Marines colonel, as well as other military alumni to ensure the three graduates were properly honored.

“The (Poway High School) Hall of Fame honors those who achieved great things after they graduated,” said Ott. “We wanted to honor those who didn’t have the opportunity to live long lives and qualify for the Hall of Fame.”

Mulick served in the Marines and was assigned to Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force. He was killed on May 28, 1966 by enemy sniper fire while on patrol near Da Nang in Quang Nam, Vietnam. Mulick was 19 years old.

Mulick’s military awards include the Purple Heart, National Defense Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal.

McDowell was a platoon sergeant assigned to 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis, Washington.

He was wounded by enemy fire while conducting combat operations and later died on April 29, 2008 near Bastion, Afghanistan. McDowell was serving in his seventh combat deployment. His previous deployments were to Afghanistan and Iraq.

McDowell enlisted in the Army inJuly 1996. He was 30 years old when he died.

McDowell’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device, Army Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Army Achievement Medal with three oak leaf clusters, three Army Good Conduct Medals, and the National Defense Service Medal.

He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal with Valor device and Meritorious Service Medal.

Necochea was killed Dec. 12, 2010 in a suicide attack in Afghanistan. He was 21 years old.

Five other American soldiers were also killed when a vehicle packed with explosives blew up at the entrance of a joint NATO-Afghan base in Kandahar province. Necochea and his fellow soldiers were assigned to Company Bravo, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Necochea was an Infantryman who joined the Army in February 2009.

His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, and Army Service Medal.