Salon Owner Carries Flame for Fallen Heroes

Alex Panos, a former Marine who has run the Alex and Company salon on Front Street since 1976, doesn't like war.

In a city still freshly wounded by the loss of one of its sons in December to the conflict in Afghanistan, , you would be hard-pressed to find an individual in Salem more devoted to veterans and their families.

"I'm against the wars, but I have to support these people," Panos said.

A Nahant resident, a few years ago Panos began tending to the memorial in Swampscott dedicated to Jennifer J. Harris, a Marine pilot who was killed in Iraq in February 2007.

"It was getting overgrown, so I said 'I'm taking over,'" Panos said. 

He sends care packages including cigars to the troops serving abroad through the Danvers organization Operation Troop Support.

Two Blue Star service flags in the windows of Panos' salon remind passersby of Ayube's sacrifice. 

Panos will soon launch his own website intended to support the families of the fallen soldiers and Marines from the area, which he hopes to have running by Memorial Day.

"I'm just one person, but I do my small part," he said.

Fallen Heroes