Volunteers run more than 6,000 miles in honor of fallen service members

Photo By Cpl. Nikki Morales | Marine Staff Sgt. Sean Linder, right, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station New River, reads the names of fallen service members being honored during America’s Run for the Fallen at the distinguished marker along North Carolina Highway 24, Warsaw, N.C., July 27, 2018. The goal of the Run for the Fallen is to raise awareness of the nearly 20,000 service men and women who have lost their lives since the bombing of USS Cole in October of 2000. The more than 6,000 mile run began in Fort Irwin, Calif., and is scheduled to end at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington County, V.A. on Aug. 5. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Nikki L. Morales)  

UNITED STATES

07.27.2018

Story by Cpl. Nikki Morales 

Marine Corps Installations East       

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – In a memorial run to honor service men and women who have lost their lives since the bombing of the USS Cole in October of 2000; service members, civilians and family members participated in America’s Run for the Fallen which included a stop at the 9/11 Memorial in the Lejeune Memorial Gardens, Jacksonville, North Carolina, July 27.
The run began, April 7, in Fort Irwin, California, and is scheduled to end at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, on Aug. 5. After their journey, the runners will have traveled more than 6,000 miles in remembrance of nearly 20,000 fallen service members.
“Every mile is a unique date of death that comprises one or more heroes,” said George Lutz, founder of Run for the Fallen. “As we run a mile, we stop and we honor those individuals by name in a reverence ceremony that’s consistent and respectful, then move on to the next mile and do the same thing again and again.”
Runners are making their way through 19 states, allowing those who live in each state to participate in the remembrance.
“The reason many may not want to participate is because they’re worried about the run itself,” said Lance Cpl. Miles Mallinson, a Marine with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station New River, event participant. “It stops being about the run itself (and is more about what the run symbolizes). You don’t even remember you’re running after a while. You just start to think about who you’re running for and what you’re running for and that’s motivation enough itself to keep going.”

• Date Taken: 07.27.2018
• Date Posted: 07.31.2018 13:43
• Story ID: 286512
• Location: US