Run for the Fallen

Since her son was killed in Iraq nearly five years ago, Jan Martin has been the recipient of kindness and support from friends and family members, but it was the actions of a stranger that may have touched her most.

Pfc. David Martin, of Edmond, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq on Oct. 31, 2005. Martin was a member of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division. As the five-year anniversary of his death approaches, Jan Martin never expected a stranger to honor her son Saturday at the Redman Triathlon at Lake Hefner.

Kelii Rain, 39, a former Oklahoma City resident and University of Central Oklahoma student who lives in Haslet, Texas, competed in the triathlon carrying a special flag honoring David Martin for the marathon portion of the event. The flag has Martin’s name on it and the date of his death. It was purchased from honorandremember.org, a group started by the father of a soldier killed in Iraq.

Rain wrote the Martins a letter informing them of his plans before the event.

“I remember reading his obituary and there was just something about David that I identified with,” Rain said.

The Martins were surprised to receive his letter.

“As a Gold Star mom it really touched my heart,” Jan Martin said. “He was a total stranger to us and the fact he would do this is something we won’t ever forget.”

Rain had planned to compete in last year’s Redman but suffered an injury while training. He kept the flag for a year though he was unsure what the Martins reaction would be.

“I asked my mother what she would think if someone did this for me,” Rain said. “I didn’t want the Martins thinking, ‘Who is this guy?’ My mom said she would be honored so I contacted them.”

David Martin and Rain have plenty in common. David Martin loved kayaking, running and mountain climbing. Rain also is athletic and patriotic. He considered joining the military after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

“David would have thought this was so nice and fitting, a real American thing to do,” Jan Martin said.

Rain has honored several Texas soldiers at triathlon events there. After he completed the Redman, he presented the flag to the Martins.

And that simple gesture is something that warmed Jan Martin’s heart during her family’s long journey through grief and recovery.

“This war will end eventually but for us it will be eternal,” Jan Martin said. “We can never replace our son. But when someone honors him this way you can’t help but feel humbled.”

Read the original article.

Hello all,
This post addresses a unique opportunity for Run for the Fallen.

I was recently contacted by Kristin Haggerty of Phoenix Media, the publisher who puts the yearbooks together for the Boston Marathon. Kristin had recently heard a news broadcast about Run for the Fallen: Maine, and she expressed interest in helping provide Run for the Fallen a 1/2 –1 page spread highlighting our 4th annual RFTF National Weekend (taking place Aug. 20/21, 2011) in the Boston Marathon yearbook.

As you may be aware, the Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual Marathon, and the race is the one of the biggest, with about 20,000 runners participating each year. Because of the widespread reach of the Yearbook and its audience, we are very excited to seek out this unique opportunity to expose the Run to a large dedicated community. We hope this will bring attention to the National Run for the Fallen weekend, which includes the hundreds of local runs throughout the country.

Kristin is helping us by cutting the cost of the 1/2 and full page ad by 75%. Yet, because we do not actively raise funds, instead opting to have local runs raise funds towards the not-for-profit of their choice (all of which must help Gold Star families and/or veterans and their families), we do not have the $4000 needed to expose Run for the Fallen to a larger audience. Any and all T-shirts we sell go to help the film production effort “To Them That’s Gone”.

I am writing to you today to ask if you could help us “pass the hat” (donate or email this post to friends and co-workers) in order to help spread the word about Run for the Fallen, bringing attention to all the various runs which occur annually (some of the larger events include but are not limited to Maine, Texas, New Jersey, Missouri, and Georgia). The larger end goal of this endeavor is to draw more attention to the individual service members, their friends and families, many of whom remember their loved one in a unique and personal way, but who do not have the opportunity to share their story. Each yearbook is distributed to all race participants and sold at local newsstands throughout April. We hope to draw more attention to the multitude of runs throughout the country, in order to bring more people together in honor & remembrance.

Thanks for helping us continue to Run for the Fallen.
Jon Bellona

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Donation link to share: http://www.chipin.com/contribute/id/211444235a6c5988