The first ever Henry County Memorial Day Ruck 22 will be held on May 27 to honor the memory of fallen veterans.
“To our knowledge, there has never been a rucking event like this in Henry County or the surrounding area”, organizers Patrick and Careen Rodgers said of the event in which veterans, family members, active-duty military, and other supporters will carry funeral flags throughout the 22-mile course.
“A ruck is a military reference to carrying a load from one location to another, often with many pounds of gear and weight in the rucksack. We will be carrying rucksacks full of cemetery flags – American, branches of services, and POW/MIA – to honor, remember, and signify carrying the burden that our military often does,” Careen Rodgers said.
Patrick Rodgers, a Marine Corps veteran, said the event is to raise awareness of the true meaning of the day – honoring the fallen.
“We feel that patriotism is not what it should be, and we feel that Memorial Day gets overlooked,” he said.
Additionally, it is to set “an example to others by showing our support and dedication by rucking 22 miles around the county, encourage physical fitness in community members by inviting them to help us finish the ruck, and encourage the community to attend the Roselawn Memorial Day Ceremony held each year,” Careen Rodgers said.
A local veteran family in need will benefit from the event, with a donation from the sales of flags and T-shirts. Participants will carry rucksacks with the purchased flags displayed throughout the event
“The flags in our rucksacks are part of an ongoing fundraiser we are conducting for a local veteran family in need, where anyone can purchase a flag in remembrance and in honor of a military member or perhaps someone they do not know, such as an MIA/POW,” Careen Rodgers said.
The family to receive the proceeds will be selected in a meeting before the event takes place.
An estimated 300 memorial flags are expected to be carried throughout the ruck.
“The flags we carry will be displayed at the Roselawn Memorial Day Ceremony when we complete our 22-mile ruck around the county,” she said.
A group of 12 to 13 participants are expected to participate in the full 22-mile ruck that begins at Roselawn Cemetery. One team will start early, following the route to the Dick and Willie Trail entrance, located below the El Parral Mexican Restaurant in Martinsville.
There, “we have an open community invite to help us ‘Finish the Ruck,’ Careen Rodgers said. “We are inviting everyone to join us for the last 1.5 miles, which will be at the Dick and Willie trailhead near El Parral restaurant, at 10 a.m. on Memorial Day.”
Those who wish to participate are asked to congregate in the parking lot and join the ruck when the rucking team arrives.
“Our rucking team will meet community members and walk the last miles to the” Memorial Day Ceremony at Roselawn Cemetery, she added.
“We know that there are a lot of people that can’t walk 22 miles; more can’t than can, but a lot of people can walk a mile and a half,” Patrick Rodgers said. “We’ve planned our route so that the last mile and a half is on the Dick and Willie Trail” so that those with disabilities who wish to participate in the final leg of the run can be supported by the group.
The route will lead participants back to Roselawn Cemetery, where flags will be displayed during the Roselawn Memorial Day Ceremony.
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office will provide an escort during the ruck to keep participants safe, and anyone who is interested is invited to participate.
“The invitation to come is open to anyone,” organizers said, adding that they hope to have a large turnout.
The couple have hosted several fitness-related events over the years and, along with county resident Katie Schneider, participated in the Bataan Memorial Death March in New Mexico.
“If you are unfamiliar with the Bataan Death March, this took place during WWII on the peninsula of Bataan in the Philippines,” Careen Rodgers said. “This tragic event is where over 70,000 American and Philippine soldiers were marched for over 100 miles by the Japanese as POWs with no food/water and often shoes/clothes.
“Each year at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, a memorial march takes place to remember and honor,” she said. “This is no ordinary event, with over 6,000 participants from all over the world taking on a grueling 26.2-mile march.”
The event, she said, “was humbling and perhaps one of the most physically and emotionally challenging events we have ever participated in. Our grueling 26.2 miles was nothing in comparison to what the POWs went through, but it is a small way never to forget.”
To support the local event, American flags can be purchased for $10 and T-shirts for $25. by messaging the Henry County Memorial Day Ruck 22 on its Facebook page, at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555683066732, or call Rodgers at (276) 340-1538.
Flags placed at the Roselawn Memorial Day Ceremony can be taken home or placed on graves after the event.
