Page 8 - March ARB Beacon 7-31-15
P. 8
8 July 31, 2015 www.aerotechnews.com/marcharb
facebook.com/TeamMarch
HEALTHY BASE INITIATIVE
Marine vet honors fallen female troops with 160-mile run
by Dean DeChiaro ing McClung and running with her daughter’s coin &RXUWHV\SKRWRRI0DULQH0DM%ULGJHW*XHUUHURUHW
0HGLOO1HZV6HUYLFH made the purpose of her mission all the more salient.
0DULQH0DM%ULGJHW*XHUUHURUHWUDQPLOHV
When veteran Marine Maj. Bridget Guerrero set “She said that Megan would be sitting on my shoul- DURXQGWKH3XJHW6RXQGLQ:DVKLQJWRQIURP-XO\
out to run a mile for each of the 160 female troops der the whole run,” Guerrero said. “I think we joked (DFKPLOHUHSUHVHQWHGDIHPDOHVHUYLFH
killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, she never thought around and I said I hoped she wasn’t too heavy.” PHPEHUZKRORVWKHUOLIHLQ,UDTRU$IJKDQLVWDQ
that one of their moms would show up to support her
along the way. Guerrero’s Valor Run honored McClung and the other
159 female service members who have been killed in Iraq
After training for months, Guerrero set out to run and Afghanistan. She hoped to raise $5,000 for various
160 miles around Washington’s Puget Sound from July charities, including the U.S. Marine Corps Scholarship
23 through 26. When she noticed a stranger among the Foundation, which dispenses money in McClung’s honor.
crowd that came out to support her along the four-day
trek, Guerrero introduced herself — and quickly real- Guerrero said she ran to highlight the sacrifices of
ized the woman was the most important person there. servicewomen.
Re McClung, the mother of Maj. Megan McClung, “The media very rarely recognizes female losses,
an accomplished triathlete and the first female Marine so when the average American thought of those losing
officer killed during the Iraq War, had come to wish their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan, they’d automatically
Guerrero well. She gave Guerrero her daughter’s ser- think they were men,” she said.
vice coin, which Guerrero kept duct-taped to her arm
for the remainder of the race. She also hoped her run would highlight the inroads
female Marines are making as new opportunities open
“To know she is running for my daughter … and to to women in the Corps.
know that she is running with Meg’s coin and to know
that funds she raises will pay forward to the daughter “A lot more occupational specialties are available to
of another Marine — it’s overwhelming,” Re McClung women, and with that comes a risk of losing your life
wrote on Facebook. — and there are 160 who have,” she said. “We want to
honor the sacrifices that our sisters have made, and all
In an interview Monday after she completed the of us are willing to make, just as much as the men are.”
run, Guerrero, who left active duty in 2000, said meet-
Visit the Valor Run website at http://www.valorrun.
org for more information about the run and the chari-
ties and organizations it supports.
