Photo By Staff Sgt. Shelby Rapert | Servicemembers stationed on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, participate in the...... read more read more
Today’s Air Force-wide Port Dawg Memorial Run tradition began with the loss of one Airman.
In 2013, Airmen at Kadena Air Base held the first memorial run in honor of Tech. Sgt. Curtis E. Eccleston, an air transportation specialist assigned to the 733rd Air Mobility Squadron, who died in 2011. More than a decade later, what started as a local tribute has grown into a career field-wide remembrance held across the Air Force each May.
Now in its 13th year, the Port Dawg Memorial Run continues to unite Airmen, families and teammates in honoring members of the aerial port community lost during the previous year.
Hosted by the 735th Air Mobility Squadron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, this year’s event brought together Airmen from across the installation during National Defense Transportation Week to remember fallen teammates and celebrate the enduring bond shared throughout the air transportation career field.
“We run in their memory. We run for them.”
Those words echoed throughout the ceremony as participants reflected on the lives and legacies of fellow Port Dawgs.
“This year marks the 13th anniversary of the memorial run,” said Chief Master Sgt. Tyson R. Wire, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces command air transportation functional manager. “As you run today, let us run together, united in purpose, with each step a tribute. The steps we take are not for ourselves alone, but for the Port Dawgs we have lost.”
Among those in attendance was Alice Steinmeyer, Eccleston’s cousin, who traveled to Hawaii with her family to participate in the 735 AMS’s memorial run for the second year.
Speaking during the ceremony, Steinmeyer remembered Eccleston as someone whose kindness and larger-than-life personality left a lasting impression on everyone around him.
“Curtis was more than an Airman,” she said. “He was a son, a brother, a nephew and a cousin. He had a big smile, a huge heart and was always the life of the party.”
Steinmeyer also reflected on the loss her family experienced following his death.
“In January of 2011, I signed into my first duty station, extra excited because Curtis was supposed to come there for his next assignment,” she said. “But a month later, I received the call; he was no longer with us.”
Since its creation, the memorial run has expanded beyond honoring one Airman to recognizing all members of the aerial port community lost during the previous year.
This year, the 735 AMS honored five fallen Port Dawgs: Tech. Sgt. Jasmine Allen, Staff Sgt. Gregory Peterson, Senior Airman Aaron Olsen, Senior Airman Mario Tejas and one unnamed Port Dawg.
For many in attendance, the event served not only as a memorial, but also as a reminder of the tight-knit culture that defines the Port Dawg community.
“To our past and present Port Dawgs — ‘605 till I die’ for a reason,” said Lt. Col. Lisa M. DeWalt, commander of the 735th Air Mobility Squadron. “Your presence, along with the proud service members and families here today, provides the healing and support that keeps this team — this family — unbreakable.”
Following the ceremony, participants began the two-mile memorial run together, each step serving as a tribute to the teammates and friends whose memories continue to shape the Port Dawg community.
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2026 15:18 |
| Story ID: | 565682 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 20 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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