A vigil for Aiken

KELLOGG — Aiken Smith was, by all accounts, a good kid.

Well-liked, kind and generous, Smith appeared on his way to a bright future before his life was tragically cut short Sunday.

On Wednesday night, a still-grieving community of classmates and community members held a candlelight vigil outside Smith’s home in Kellogg — the place where he was shot and killed just days prior.

Many of the estimated 100 people who attended the vigil told stories about Aiken, times that he made them laugh, times that he stepped up to help when no one else would, and times when he went out of his way to make sure that people were included.

“Aiken was always welcome at my home,” Monica Ross said. “He was friends with my daughter, but he always went out of his way to include her little brothers in stuff that they did. That can’t be said for all of her friends and it was just different to see that kind of care and compassion from a teenage boy these days.”

Hundreds of people have flocked to social media over the past four days to express their sorrow over the loss of their friend — or the friend of one of their children.

“I only knew of Aiken through my granddaughters Hannah and Emelia who had the privilege of calling him a friend, actually more than a friend a kind and thoughtful friend who was a true gentleman.”

“Aiken was a bright light in so many lives, my family included. We will miss him terribly.”

For some, processing the situation brought feelings of rage, mixed with the memories of a good kid.

“Tell me what he did to deserve this. I knew Aiken as a respectful young man. He was proud to be a member of the JROTC. He was proud to serve his community. He did serve his community.”

As a member of the Kellogg High School Marine Corps JROTC, Smith had worked through the ranks of the program, achieving the rank of cadet first sergeant.

The JROTC program had provided Smith with an outlet for his kind and giving personality, something that was echoed by his Marine Corps instructors.

“Aiken was a bright young man who had a tremendous future,” Maj. Craig Petersen said. “He was a leader not only in the JROTC program, but in this community. Just this year he had nearly 100 hours of community service helping organizations in Wallace, Kellogg and Coeur d'Alene. He was the leader for many of the color guards this community enjoys so much. He was well-liked and respected by his peers, and those types of individuals are hard to replace.”

Much of Smith’s social life was tied to his involvement in the JROTC program and, in fact, it was many of his fellow cadets and their families who organized the vigil.

Smith had plans on enlisting in the United States military following graduation.

“We are in the works to set up a scholarship fund for future student leaders to honor and never forget Cadet 1st Sgt. Aiken Smith,” Petersen said. “Sgt. Maj. Smith and I will do what we can to honor his memory and that's the impact this young man had on us and our JROTC program.”