Cross country run honors fallen troops

By Bennie Scarton Jr.

Published: August 22, 2008

Inspired by the sacrifice of military friends and family members whose lives were lost in Iraq, a team of runners—including a former Manassas resident—is finishing a cross-country run this weekend to honor every service member killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"Run for the Fallen" kicked off on Flag Day, June 14 in front of Painted Rocks at Fort Irwin, Calif., and covered more than 4,000 miles through 13 states.

The runners passed through Prince William County on Friday and will finish on Sunday at Arlington National Cemetery.

Among the original participants has been Erin Kavanaugh, who has lived in Manassas. Her fiancé, 1st Lt. Michel J. Cleary, was killed in action in Iraq on Dec. 20, 2005, just weeks before he was to return home and two months before the couple were to be married.

The two had met while both were residents of Dallas, Pa.

The run was organized and directed by Jon Bellona, who was a roommate of Cleary at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.

He and the other runners marked every mile of their cross-country journey with an American flag and personalized card in honor of every fallen service member.

The dedication markers, which were made with the help of more than 25 middle and high schools across the country, have created a memorial trail across the United States, connecting cities and towns from coast to coast.

"The run is a symbolic memorial," said Bellona. "While each flag will represent a soldier who has fallen, the run is standing as one large stitch spanning the width of the nation, coast to coast."

The memorial run has focused and aligned itself in supporting the Wounded Warrior Project, the Yellow Ribbon Fund, Lt. Cleary Memorial Fund and Helping Unite Gold Star

Survivors.

"We have been on the road for 72 days now and we have been greeted wonderfully all along the way," said Kavanaugh, 27.

National sponsors include New Balance, U-Haul, ACT, and SmartShild, with help from various hotel franchises where they often stay and the USO.

"From schools creating our signcards, to VFWs maintaining our markers, to runners, to our sponsors, there have been hundreds participating in our run," said Kavanaugh. She was joined in Manassas by her aunt, Sheila Kavanaugh of Manassas; her mother, Barbara Roberts of Dallas; and grandmother Betty Roberts, also of Dallas, along with other friends and family.

A longtime friend, Matthew McLaughlin, 26, of Manassas, said, "This is one of the craziest and improbable things I have ever heard of. I'm really proud of Erin and all the runners. The run is for a great cause, honoring all the fallen servicemen and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan."

He joined the group as a runner who stopped for a break Friday morning at a Sunoco station at the corner of Liberia Avenue and Signal Hill Road in Manassas. They planned to reach Walter Reed Army Hospital Friday evening, take today off and conclude their journey with a 10K walk and closing ceremony on Sunday.

"The run is firmly non-political and non-religious, just members of a group of Cleary's former classmates at Hamilton College," said Kavanaugh, who added that nine of the original 14 members are still with the run. The runners run in relay, 50 to 65 miles per day, and along the way encourage people of all ages and abilities to participate.

"We want to raise awareness about the lives of those soldiers who fought, to activate their memories and keep their spirits alive, to support organizations that help wounded veterans and families of those killed and to aid the healing process for those Americans whose lives have been affected by the war," said Kavanaugh.

Staff writer Bennie Scarton Jr. can be reached at 703-369-6707.