Norco's 'Home Town Hero' Honored With Post Office Renaming

NORCO, CA —A bill renaming the Norco Post Office in honor of a U.S. Marine killed during a suicide bombing in Afghanistan was signed into law Tuesday by President Joe Biden.

The Norco Post Office at 1801 Town & Country Drive will be renamed for Marine Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, who was among 11 Marines and two other service members killed on Aug. 26, 2021, when an Islamic State terrorist detonated explosives that he had carried onto the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul during the chaotic evacuation of U.S. forces and diplomats.

Nearly 100 Afghans were slain or wounded in the bombing.

Nikoui made an "extraordinary sacrifice," and even though he was killed over a year ago, "we still remember, we still grieve, and we still celebrate the incredible impact he made," Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, the bill's author, said last month.

A date for the official re-designation of the post office has not been announced.

In January, a memorial recognizing Nikoui, his fellow fallen Marines and the U.S. Navy corpsman and Army soldier who died with them was established in front of the Norco Country Center on Sixth Street.

The "Memorial for the Fallen 13" features a plaque saluting Nikoui as "Our Home Town Hero." A remembrance service paying homage to the Leatherneck and his comrades was held there in August.

In 2019, the Riverside County native graduated from Norco High School, where he was involved in the J-ROTC program. He enlisted in the Marines soon after and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton.

HR 5809 was approved by the House July 12 and Senate Sept. 20.