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A 4,000-mile run for 4,000 fallen troops

CLINTON, N.Y. — Mike Cleary was the kind of friend you don’t forget.

Jon Bellona first met Cleary when they were freshman roommates at Hamilton College in upstate New York.

“We got along so well,” Bellona said. “It felt like we were married. You didn’t have to say anything. There was a quiet understanding of each other. We each knew what the other was thinking or felt at a particular time.”

Bellona was devastated when he learned in December 2005 that his good friend had been killed in an ambush in Iraq while leading his platoon back from a bombing mission. Cleary’s death came just 10 days shy of his return home.

Now, Bellona has chosen to honor his friend — and all American service members killed in Iraq — with a coast-to-coast memorial relay run from Fort Irwin, Calif., to Arlington National Cemetery, Va. He will be accompanied by a small cadre of friends and former classmates. They will be joined along various stretches of the 72-day, 13-state journey by other runners and groups, including several military units and veterans’ organizations.

At each mile along the 4,113-mile route, they will plant an American flag — with a card and photo — in honor of each of the more than 4,000 troops killed in Iraq since March 2003. As of Wednesday, there were 4,094 deaths in Iraq, according to an Associated Press count.

The “Run for the Fallen” begins Saturday — Flag Day.

“This isn’t about politics at all,” said Shauna Sweet, another Hamilton College classmate, who will join with Bellona and two other runners planning to run all 72 days. “It’s about how real people make real sacrifices every day. It’s honoring that and respecting that. Sometimes you need to be able to say more than just thank you.”

Cleary, of Dallas, Pa., was 24 when he was killed Dec. 20, 2005, in Iraq. Like so many young Americans, he was inspired to join the Army following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, said his father, Jack Cleary, himself a retired Army officer.

The Clearys persuaded their son to wait and graduate from Hamilton before enlisting. With his economics degree in hand, Cleary quickly advanced through Airborne School, Ranger School and Anti-Terrorist School and was promoted to first lieutenant.

“I don’t know which generation is America’s greatest generation, but ... I look at these young people and see how they are giving back already. They felt a deep sense of duty, dedication and honor,” Jack Cleary said. “It should give us all encouragement for the future.”

Bellona and Cleary shared interests in sports and hunting. During college, Cleary kept his guns at Bellona’s house in Clinton and frequently ate meals with the family. They were fraternity brothers and were among a small group that stayed close after graduation, Bellona said.

The idea for the relay run came to him about a year ago, Bellona said. He was working in New York City and living in New Jersey and was out for a run on the waterfront when it started raining.

“I could see the New York skyline, and what was missing,” he said, referring to the World Trade Center towers. “I remembered sitting on the couch with Mike in our suite junior year and watching the 9/11 events unfold. It was just all there in my head: Mike, the towers, the running. The idea popped into my head and I couldn’t sleep that night.”

It started as a small effort among friends and family, including Cleary’s sister Shannon and his fiance, Erin Kavanagh, the high school sweetheart Cleary was supposed to have married the February after he got home from Iraq.

When it started to grow, the 26-year-old Bellona quit his job as an audio engineer and put his career on hold to plan the project.

As Bellona pieced together the logistics and began preparations for the cross-country trip, he received help from about two dozen middle and high schools across the country as students compiled and made the cards that are attached to each of the 30-inch tall, 12-inch-by-18-inch flags.

The flags will follow a chronological order starting on the West Coast with the first service member killed in Iraq, said Bellona, whose senior project at Hamilton involved producing a 6-hour-long sound memorial to Vietnam vets. Mike’s flag will be placed just outside Wichita, Kan., on July 20.

The relay will cover an average of 57 miles a day, traversing a mostly southern path across the U.S. Bellona, who four years ago completed a cross-country bicycle trip to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and Sweet, a 26-year-old marathoner, plan to run 15 to 20 miles daily.

With the use of an assortment of interactive online tools, the group hopes to broaden public interest in their quest.

There will be places to view service members’ stories, look at video and slideshows, leave comments and messages, follow the runners’ progress and find out which mile they are running for which service member.

Not only will the race memorialize troops who have lost their lives, it also will help raise funds for those left behind. Donations will be directed to the Wounded Warrior Project, the Yellow Ribbon Fund, 1st Lt. Michael J. Cleary Memorial Fund and Helping Unite Gold Star Survivors.

The relay will arrive in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 23.

The following day, about 150 runners will take part in a ceremonial 10K race that will end at the Arlington National Cemetery. Only a small group will enter the cemetery to plant the final flag while a bugler plays “Taps,” Bellona said.

On that day, the group also will be running to honor service members killed in Afghanistan, Bellona said, encouraging all Americans to run a mile.

“The whole thing started as a way to do something for Mikey. Something to make him proud and that would continue to tell his story,” Bellona said. “The run gets its power, its strength and its depth from the fact that it is a simple project — it’s a way to remember.”

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On the Net:

Run for the Fallen: www.runforthefallen.org