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Runners Complete Memorial to Fallen Heroes
(August 26, 2008) |
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Jon Bellona, far left, leads a group of
friends and family members of fallen
servicemembers to Arlington National Cemetery's
Section 60 |
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Arlington National Cemetery,
Va. -- Aug. 25, 2008
It started as a leap of faith,
but more than 10 million steps later, a 10-man
relay team arrived here, at what the memorial
run's organizer called the most sacred place in
America.
“Run for the Fallen is a living memorial,” Jon
Bellona said. “It is not just dedicated to the
more than 4,000 brave men and women who gave
their lives, but to the families whose loved
ones on active duty currently are in harm's
way.”
Run for the Fallen,
inspired by Bellona's best friend and college
roommate, Army 1st Lt. Michael J. Cleary, began
on Flag Day, June 14, just outside the |
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gates of Fort Irwin, Calif. Cleary, 24, was a
member of the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st
Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade
Combat Team, based at Fort Benning, Ga., when he
was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on Dec.
20, 2005. |
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The mission was a simple one: to run one
mile for every American servicemember killed in Operation
Iraqi Freedom. Each mile was marked by a small American flag
and a card honoring a servicemember -- “one mile of sweat
and pain to pay homage to one soldier's life,” the Run for
the Fallen Web site says. |
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After an Army bugler played
“Taps,” those family and friends spent a moment
visiting their fallen loved ones' graves, purging another
small measure of grief.
Cleal Bradford (photo right), of
Blanding, Utah, grandfather to 46 and
great-grandfather to 41, was among them. His
grandson, Army 1st Sgt. Nathan Winder, 32, was
assigned to 2ndBattalion, 1st Special Forces
Group (Airborne) out of Fort Lewis, Wash., when
he was killed June 26, 2007, by enemy small-arms
fire in Diwaniyah, Iraq
“This is my third time [to
visit the grave] since the burial,” Bradford
said as he sat under a tree clutching a small
American flag. “[Today] was beautiful, ... playing
‘Taps.'” |
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Shannon Cleary, center, kisses her mother,
Marianne Cleary during the memorial run in memory of Cleary's brother,
Army 1st Lt. Michael Cleary. Jack Flanagan,
Marianne's grandson, also participated in
the last day of the living memorial. |
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Marianne Cleary, mother of the
soldier who inspired the run, agreed.
“[I'm] overcome with what they've accomplished,”
she said. “What they've done is they've honored
and they've remembered. To know that people are
still honoring, and it's still going on [is
reassuring].”
Cleary's sister, Shannon, of San Diego, ran as
part of the relay team and had developed a
personal connection to many of the names she saw
chiseled into the headstones in Section 60.
“I'm going through here and I'm like, ‘I ran his
mile, and I ran her mile,'” she said. “People
ask how you do it. You're thinking about
Frederick for a mile. You're thinking about
Russell for a mile.”
And while she agreed the trek
through the Mojave Desert was a hot one, “Nobody was shooting at
us,” she said. |
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Julie Jutras, an area
resident, ran the final 10 kilometers in honor
of her son. Army Pfc. Dillon Miles Jutras was
killed in Iraq's Anbar province on Oct. 28,
2005, while serving with the 3rd Battalion, 75th
Ranger Regiment, from Fort Benning.
Jutras and a team that runs
the Army 10-miler had heard about Run for the
Fallen and began logging their training miles in
honor of a fallen Operation Iraqi Freedom
veteran.
“We've run for about 1,800 people in our
training miles,” she said. “It won't happen
before this year's Army 10-miler, but we're
hoping to be able to cover every person that
sacrificed.” |
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Heather Jutras Glasgow grieves
at her brother's grave marker in Arlington
National Cemetery' |
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Dakota Linck, 9 (left),
his mother Debi, and father, Rick, place
carnations at the gravesite of their brother and
son, Army Staff Sgt. Henry W. Linck |
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Fallen Army Staff Sgt. Henry
W. Linck's father claimed to have left his
running days behind some 30 years ago. But
Rick Linck traveled from Lebanon, Tenn., with his wife and
younger son to participate in the day's events nonetheless.
The experience left his spirit buoyed.
“It showed me that some people still remember what our
fallen heroes deserve,” Linck said. “What better tribute
[than] to make a run? It's honored my son. It's honored
daughters, husbands, wives, sons, grandsons -- showing that
we still do care.”
Linck's son was killed in Fallujah, Iraq, on Dec. 7, 2006,
18 days before his 23rd birthday. He was a member of the 3rd
Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, based at |
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Fort Richardson,
Alaska. |
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As the last carnations and stones were placed at the
headstones of friends and loved ones, the crowd began to
dissipate with Bellona's earlier words still clear in their
minds. “While the run across America ... is over, the journey of
honor and remembrance continues,” he said. “It is here that
now we walk, shoulder to shoulder, in tribute to the
fallen.” |
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Family members and friends of servicemembers
killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom pay their
respects as an Army bugler plays "Taps" in
Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60 on Aug.
24, 2008. The tribute took place at the
conclusion of Run for the Fallen, a memorial run
that began June 14 outside the gates of Fort
Irwin, Calif. |
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Article and
Photos By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2008
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