Photo By Staff Sgt. April Mota | A group of friends run in honor of a fallen comrade during a 'Run for the Fallen' 5...... read more read more
By Sgt. Tracy Knowles and Pfc. Karin Leach
CAMP SLAYER, Iraq - The "Run for the Fallen," a 5 kilometer run around Camp Slayer, Nov. 14, had more than 750 United States Military service members, civilians, runners and volunteers.
After seeing a flyer for a "Run for the Fallen" event being held in Missouri and realizing no veterans run was being held here, Sgt. Maj. Bradley Schneier of St. Charles, Mo., United States Forces-Iraq, mentioned the idea of organizing a run over dinner one night with fellow Soldiers.
The idea took off. Schneier, along with Capt. Melissa Golschneider, Durham, Conn., Multi- National Corps-Iraq, started planning the run.
"I think it was a very honorable and appropriate event that captured 'remembering the fallen'," said Schneier. "The weather may have deterred some people from running, but maybe it was God's way of showing his tears for our fallen comrades."
The run was supported by the U.S. organization "Run for the Fallen", and 91 shadow runs occurred throughout the U.S.
Golschneider, explosive hazards coordination cell plans officer, MNC-I, believes that people should run for those who can't.
"I think since we can run we should," Golschneider said. "We can't forget those who have fallen before us; those who couldn't say, 'let's go out and run a 5K on a Saturday morning.'"
Sgt. Zach Hrymecki, personal security officer, MNC-I, took the loss of his mentor, Sgt. 1st Class Rocky Herrera, hard. Herrera was killed in action in 2007 while deployed to Afghanistan.
"Half of our platoon had him as a drill sergeant in [Advanced Individual Training]. He was someone we looked up to for a long time. He trained us taught us, everything we knew and paid the ultimate sacrifice. This run is a small way to show how much his sacrifice meant to us."
L3 Communications Cy Terra, Great Atlantic Outfitters, Tennessee Titan Cheerleaders and the "Run for the Fallen" organization sponsored the event organized by the Soldiers from Headquarters USF-I, J7. The "Run for the Fallen" organization spread the word through the internet about the run here in Iraq.
L3 helped contributed to the cause by ordering the t-shirts and Great Atlantic Outfitters work to design the t-shirts. Mr. Michael Batta with L3 volunteered his time and ran in the run the night before. "I ran for Lance Cpl. Marc "Lucas" Tucker the night before the event," said Mike "My heart goes out to all the families of our fallen warriors that made the ultimate sacrifice."
Even the Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders joined in to sponsor the run upon learning about it on the "Run for the Fallen" Facebook page. They sent well wishes and calendars for prizes.
Many shadow runs all over the US have blossomed out of this event. Some runs reported to have had a few individuals while others had hundreds of participants.
"Some citizens will be running at the same time we do. In some cases that is at 11pm" said Schneier.
Schneier was truly honored and deeply touched by their [US participants] willingness to help us [Soldiers here in Baghdad]honor our fallen comrades and the families.
The 5k run honored, celebrated and remembered the true heroes, the fallen and the families.
| Date Taken: | 11.14.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2009 04:06 |
| Story ID: | 41714 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 437 |
| Downloads: | 351 |
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