BAGRAM, Afghanistan - To the runners of the Bagram Shadow Marathon and the people of Boston, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon. It has been run on Patriots' Day since 1897. Patriots' Day commemorates the opening battles of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord. This year, the Boston Marathon expects 36,000 runners. This morning, our 600 tough warrior runners will blaze the trail for the Boston runners to follow on Monday.
As we run the first Boston Marathon since last year's bombings, we "Run as One" with the people of Boston. Like the US Army's slogan, "Army Strong," the people of Boston have shown the world they are tough, they are resilient; they have... shown the world they are "Boston Strong!"
Today, we also run to remember all the heroes of our Coalition of Nations who have sacrificed everything standing for our principles and way of life. From Lexington and Concord to the attacks of 9/11, from Madrid to London, from Boston to the battlefields of Afghanistan... Never forget.
Army Strong and Boston Strong carry the same message to terrorists around the world who threaten our way of life-we will never back down, we will never give up, we will never give in...we are Army Strong, we are Boston Strong!
Climb to Glory!
Stephen J. Townsend
Major General, U.S. Army
Commanding
| Date Taken: | 04.18.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.20.2014 08:52 |
| Story ID: | 126736 |
| Location: | BAGRAM, AF |
| Web Views: | 263 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Maj. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend's Patriot's Day message to Boston, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT