Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/January 19, 2010

Maren Kelsome was a Human male soldier of the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War. As a young man, Kelsome received his first assignment as a scout to the frozen planet of Akuria II to clean out the remnants of a gutted Imperial garrison destroyed during the Battle of Akuria II, just weeks after the Battle of Yavin. Kelsome performed adequately, helping to remove the last Imperial troops, which allowed the native Akurians to regain their homeworld. Colonel Odan, commander of the Rebels on Akuria II, promoted Kelsome from private to corporal for his performance.

Kelsome later answered a call for soldiers trained in arctic survival to protect the Alliance's Echo Base on the ice planet Hoth, where, under the command of Colonel Ledick Firest, he learned how to function in a formal military structure, which he found quite different from the ragtag Akuria II group that had served under Odan. During the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY, Kelsome acted as Echo Base's forward scout at Outpost Beta on the base's defensive perimeter, designated Point Rider Five. He earned the distinction of being the first to report the sighting of Imperial All Terrain Armored Transports approaching the base from Hoth's North Ridge, but he and his tauntaun mount were crushed to death under an AT-AT's massive footpad after underestimating the walkers' deceptive speed.