More than 1100 people took time out of their busy lives to honor and pay respect to fallen service members and their families April 2. The second annual Run for the Fallen took place near the Field of Honor on Fort Bliss, Texas.
"The purpose is to pay respect to the sacrifices that each one of our families have made," said Helen Barrientos, program manager, Fort Bliss Survivor Outreach Services. "And to remember the fallen heroes."
Before the run, the crowd gathered around the Field of Honor Memorial and rose garden to remember the fallen as a collective.
"The run for the fallen hosted by SOS provides El Paso and the Fort Bliss communities the opportunity to pay respect to the families of the fallen and acknowledge the sacrifice they have endured," said Brig. Gen. Jeffery Broadwater, deputy commanding general, support, 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss. "Together we honor the fallen Soldiers."
Families of the fallen read the names of their loved ones aloud and the crowd observed a moment of silence. Spc. Elliot Mee, 1st Armored Division Band, played "Taps," before the ceremony concluded and participants made their way to the starting line.
The atmosphere was mixed, at times somber, but sometimes joyful as the survivors remembered happy memories of their loved ones, and shared those memories with participants there to support them. Survivors wore black run shirts to signify they had experienced a loss.
" ... We also allow our families that are associated with the Survivor Outreach Services program to display the wreaths that we have because it makes it real," Barrientos said. "That their loved one is here with them. It makes them a part of them and an extension so people will know the service member that passed."
War has touched everyone, and many people know service members who lost their lives, Barrientos said. Many participants in the Run for the Fallen had personal reasons for doing so, such as Sgt. 1st Class Alfredo Perez, a runner from the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion, who lost many fellow Soldiers in combat, and was running in honor of one from his platoon.
"So it's a great way to remember them and honor not only him, but his family," Perez said. "He was from Dallas, so we're doing this and we're going to send pictures to his family so they can see that we still remember him every time we can."
For Maria Isela Rubalcava, whose daughter, Sgt. Isela Rubalcava, was killed in combat in 2004, it's reassuring to see that so many still remember the fallen Soldiers' sacrifices.
"I feel good because one of those is my daughter," Rubalcava said. "It's hard. My hero. I have to do this because my daughter is my hero."
The event was broken up into a one-mile walk or a 5-kilometer route. The event was noncompetitive, but participants still put everything they had into the run, including Capt. Jess Barron, commander, Company B, 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, who crossed the finish line first.
"It's just a great chance to get out there and give it my all on the track to honor them for what they've done," Barron said.
Survivor Outreach Services started this run at the request of the families, who wanted a public way to remember their fallen service members.
"It's all part of healing, it's all part of remembering. But most importantly, it's to not forget our Soldiers that have passed," Barrientos said.
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