BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – It’s been two years since six military policemen assigned to the 978th Military Police Company, 93rd MP Battalion, out of Fort Bliss, Texas, were killed when an improvised explosive device hit their vehicle in Maidan Shahr, the capitol of Wardak province.
Their combat brethren, who are now deployed to Regional Command-East with the 202nd Military Police Company, under the same battalion, have never forgotten their loss.
In a way of remembering their memories, the 202nd MP Company members organized a 10k relay race in remembrance of the six fallen MPs at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, July 8, 2014. More than 250 others stationed at BAF ran the race.
For Sgt. Julio Diaz-Vidrio, a watch commander at the Joint Provost Marshal Office, with the 202nd MP Company, lost two close friends during that event. Two years ago, he was deployed in Regional Command-South, Afghanistan, where he was assigned to the 58th MP Co., out of Hawaii.
“It hit me hard,” Diaz-Vidrio, of Las Vegas, said as he recalled. “I was looking through some stuff and was looking at a number (Spc. Clarence Williams III) had written.”
He wrote Williams an email about meeting up with him at Fort Bliss after their deployment. Soon after, Diaz-Vidrio would find out about his basic training buddy.
Through the healing process, the 202nd MPs wanted to hold the 10K relay run: one mile per team member that represented each of the six members killed.
The first mile was for Staff Sgt. Ricardo “Ricky” Seija, of Tampa, Florida; the second for Spc. Clarence Williams III, of Brooksville, Florida; third for Spc. Erica Alecksen, of Eatonton, Georgia; fourth for Pfc. Alejandro Pardo, of Porterville, California; fifth for Pfc. Cameron Stambaugh, of Spring Grove, Pennsylvania; and the last for Pfc. Trevor Adkins, of Spring Lake, North Carolina.
Spc. Timothy Hood, a RC-East Knowledge Management technician, from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, was on the winning relay team, and although they beat out the rest of the teams, his team understood the significance of the race.
“I thought it was pretty special even with the substantial event that occurred during the race,” Hood said.
As the first leg of the race was coming to an end, the runners were forced to nearby bunkers and buildings when Bagram Air Field took two rockets. The initial confusion sent runners off course and left many wondering if the race would continue.
Sgt. 1st Class Andrew James, who serves as the JPMO first sergeant, quickly got on the speaker, after the all-clear was sounded, to let the runners know the race would go on.
The official race clock never stopped through the rocket attack. So, the runners ran and times had to be adjusted to account for the lapse. In the end, the time didn’t seem to matter to neither the runners nor the 202nd MP Company organizers.
“It was not about the time … it was about remembering our brothers and sister in arms,” said James.
The 202nd MP Company members plan on taking a collection of memorabilia from the run back to the families of the fallen when they return back to Fort Bliss.
“We want them to know we never forget and that we will keep doing this to keep their memory alive,” Diaz-Vidrio said. “We’ll keep doing this … if not here, then somewhere in the states.”
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.08.2014 09:51 |
| Story ID: | 135489 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Hometown: | BROOKSVILLE, FL, US |
| Hometown: | EATONTON, GA, US |
| Hometown: | PORTERVILLE, CA, US |
| Hometown: | SPRING GROVE, PA, US |
| Hometown: | SPRING LAKE, NC, US |
| Hometown: | TAMPA, FL, US |
| Hometown: | WAUWATOSA, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 2,453 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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