Thank You
The runners are in the midst of unpacking vehicles, returning to hometowns, and one by one, punching the timecards back at work. Please be patient as we answer emails, respond to questions, write our thank yous, tally the miles from the 24th, and update pictures & website.
We cannot thank everyone enough who made this run possible. From the Buster Crutcher’s who opened up their doors to our runners, to the George Nelson & Cynthia Lager’s who came out to run with us, to the Jeannette Rosa’s who drove all the way from GA to run her son’s mile, we are still constantly amazed by the wonderful openness of your hearts; we have renewed faith in our America.
There is so much to say, and almost all of it teeters on the brink of language. We will never forget, our brave men & women, their sacrifice, is stamped upon our hearts forever. Because of your help, we were able to run this summer. Because of your help, we were able to bring communities and towns together. We were, together, able to honor and remember. We are in awe of you, and for that we say, “Thank You.”
I said this in the kyte-chat, but worth repwating: To all of you on the crew, this quote from Gene Hackman, in The Replacements, sums up all of you; “When the Washington Sentinels left the stadium that date, there was no tickertape parade, no endorsement deals for sneakers or soda pop, or breakfast cereal. Just a locker to be cleaned out, and a ride home to catch…..But what they didn’t know, was that their lives had been changed forever because they had been part of something great. And greatness, no matter how brief, stays with a man.” Not only your lives have changed, but everyone that came in contact with you, whatever form that contact took. Talk about the butterfly effect, there will be ripples for some time to come, in ways none of us have conceived. You guys are still part of something great, I feel blessed to have been witness to it.
Well spake, Ms. Barnett. Well spake indeed.
One of the most inspiring things our family has been involved in. We wear our Run for the Fallen shirts proudly.
Remember our troops for what they are “True American Heros” during the election year. No matter what you believe in exercise your freedom the American soldier gives you and VOTE.
I have WHOLE bunch of pictures I want to send to you guys from the run/walk i organized in New Smyrna Beach, FL. We had ran/walked for over 180 fallen soldiers! If you can let me know where i can upload/send ther pictures for you guys! Also, are there Run For The Fallen shirts availabe online?!
I received an email from my mother who works at Fort Campbell, Ky letting me know about this awesome event. I served in OIF with the 1/113th Cav Troop C in 05-06. We were fortunate to have only lost 1 of our own but that 1 man was loved by all. I didn’t know who to tell or how but on Sunday August 24th 2008 I ran 3 miles for Sgt Daniel Sesker. I hope that you will do this again next year so that I can hopefully get a few more people involved.
I forgot to mention that I am from Des Moines, Iowa
To All:
I sent pictures to Cameron Payne’s mom when we placed Cameron’s flag at Max Meadows outside of Wytheville, VA on the August 12.
This is her response:
Wow!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your pictures. I have forwarded them to my family so they can enjoy them. When I opened up your email I saw the photos and of course I was so overwhelmed with emotions. I can hardly believe it has been over a year since Cameron left us. At yet people continue to honor and remember him. I really wished you would have had an opportunity to meet him. Cameron’s laughter was truly contagious. It’s his laughter that I remember the most and gets me through the rough patches.
Love you, Denise (Cameron’s mommy)
Thank again from the bottom of my heart.
Chris Collver
Lovettsville, VA
Jon was kind enough to send a snail mail thank you card this week – one of hundreds he must be writing I would guess. He thanked me for “sounding the clarion call early on about the run ” adding that “we would never have seen as much of the support as we did without your behind the scenes work” . Well, it began with me asking Tom and Andre Gilomen to invite the team to dinner at their Barking Frog Grille in Sedona AZ where all 18 members of the team sat down to a five star dinner, and then my call to Jim at Recapture Lodge, Bluff, Utah, which gave him the opportunity to offer hospitality after that stunning run through Monument Valley which is up on the film webpage. Two months later, on the fourth anniversary of Chris’ death, Jim who is also Fire Chief and his family, with flags and fire truck took a stunning sunset photo at Chris Belchik’s mile in town to send to his mom Lynn who met up with the team in Germantown, IL, so she could embrace one of her son’s buddies who ran miles that day along with Ret. Sgt Major Velton Lochlear who had flown from Laredo TX at the invitation of the mayors of Germantown and Clinton Co. IL. to run miles for Velton II , his buddy Aaron Kincaid, Master Sgt Robb Needham and seven others, as reported earlier in the blog http://www.tributetochris.com/
The day after Bluff, the team had the amazing welcome in the towns of Blanding and Monticello, UT, where people showed up in droves. This was chronicled so well in the San Juan Record by Gold Star Mom Terri Winder who wrote two outstanding RFTF news features to be found in the July 2008 archives under her byline In A Nutshell http://www.sjrnews.com/pages/2008_archives
Fast foreward to September 11 and an interview and reflection by Jon which I spotted online today http://www.moblogic.tv/blog/2008/09/11/some-thoughts-about-run-for-the-fallen/
Besides the TV segments, here is an excerpt from Jon’s text that resonated all the way back to Utah.
“To hear a Gold Star mother come up to you and say “you don’t know how much these means to me,” truly cuts to the core of your being. You are left speechless, and the few things you are compelled to do are to embrace and to smile. On the one hand, you are proud to run, to do something you believe in your heart is possible, and at the same time, you are mired by the very thought that you will never know the depths to which she speaks. To attempt to understand another is to embrace them. Yet I remain, speechless.
Over the course of ten weeks, I have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful families, so many grateful towns, so many positive individuals. Yet one family sticks out in my mind. While running through Blanding, UT on July 1st, we met the Winder family. Tom and Terri Winder’s son, Nathan Winder, was killed in Iraq on June 26, 2007. They adopted him when he was 2, and Nathan is just one of their 18 children. Tom and Terri’s hearts are as big as their family. And while the Winders weren’t the first Gold Star family we met, nor with whom we’ve grown the closest, I will never forget that moment or her words. “You will never know how much this means to us,” Terri said. And yes, she is right. Yet what she didn’t know was that while she was the mother whose heart I touched, it was her who in turn, touched my heart. She fulfilled the promise of what Run for the Fallen could become, of the promise I made to Mike, something I knew only in my heart.”
(The team invited Terri to run the final day at Arlington – and she did!)
and this http://www.moblogic.tv/video/2008/09/15/run-for-the-fallen-jon-bellona/
September 11th, 2008
So as Jon sits alone and pens his thank yous the old fashioned way and reflects on every individual who will receive one, the rest of us owe him and the team our gratitude and support for whatever form Run For The Fallen may take in 2009 …. for it is something that will not fade. It touched too many American families of the fallen and their friends and raised the consciousness of thousands of others who have not experienced the devastating loss and grief that stays long after people’s patience and sympathy fade, to quote from the article below.http://www.glamour.com/news/articles/2008/03/war_widows
One also hopes that all the charities benefitted both monetarily and with exposure to the nationwide audience.
Judy
Orange County, CA the December venue for the third Snowball Express for widows and children of the fallen which supported Run For The Fallen. It is not too late for them to register at http://www.snowballexpress.org