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Rucking for the gold stars

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rebekah Phy
  • 305th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MCGUIRE AFB, N.J. --  The early morning sun was shining as a group of Team McGuire and community members gathered at the Global Reach Deployment Center warehouse here. With weighted rucks in hand, the participants stood around chatting until a van pulled up. Silence spread through the group as the van doors opened.

Out stepped the Gold Star Mothers. One-by-one they exited the van and walked toward the crowd. Some held hands. Others waved to the group. The crowd parted to allow the mothers to pass by. Everyone's eyes followed as they walked into the warehouse.

Thirteen mothers from the New Jersey and Pennsylvania areas were honored with breakfast and a six-mile Inaugural McGuire AFB Ruck March here Oct. 20.

Escorted by Master Sgt. Bubba Beason, 818th Contingency Response Group first sergeant, they all headed for the break room. Inside, they were greeted by the Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey United Services Organization and countless Team McGuire members. Breakfast was waiting to be served. This was a day to honor the Gold Star Mothers.

The American Gold Star Mothers, Inc., was founded in 1928 and is a national organization of mothers who have lost a son or daughter in the service of our country. During World War I, a blue star was displayed to represent a son serving in the military. A gold star was placed over the blue star in honor of a son who died while serving.

"Gold Star Mothers have made an unbelievable sacrifice -- their sons and daughters died in the fight for freedom," said Col. Greg Otey, 818th Contingency Response Wing vice commander. "And they continue to help others as they are working through the loss of a loved one. Their organization is a great cause, and I was happy to be a part of supporting and honoring the Gold Star Mothers."

For some of the mothers, this was the first event they attended since losing their child. For others, like Judith Young, the "senior" mother of the group, who lost her son, Jeffrey, in1983, this was one of many events.

"You could tell the mothers were really enjoying it, even the 'new' moms," Mrs. Young said. "It would be great if an event like this could be done service-wide."

For "new" parents in Gold Star Mothers, the event seemed to help them cope better with the loss of their loved one.

"This was the first thing we've done with Gold Star Mothers," said Jim Mazza, husband of Victoria Mazza, Gold Star Mother, parents of James Mazza, who died July 22 in a motor-vehicle accident upon returning from his second deployment. "This was a phenomenal event - it really helped us see we are not alone; other people share the same type of loss we did. And the military support is extremely impressive."

After breakfast and opening remarks, including a bagpipe performance by Bill Willis, the ruck participants prepared to begin the six-mile event. Before beginning, Sergeant Beason called all team leaders to the front of the room. Each mother gave an item that belonged to or represented her son to each team leader to hold while competing in the ruck march. When they started to get tired or give up, the item was to help give them motivation to finish the march.

"The ruck march was for us to help carry the burden of what the Gold Star Mothers were going through with the loss of a loved one," Sergeant Beason said. "The pain the participants were feeling was pale in comparison to what happened to the Gold Star Mothers. The items they carried were just a little reminder."

During the ruck march, the mothers drove around to support the participants and help cheer them on. At the end of the march, they cheered on the participants as they crossed the finish line.

An awards ceremony was held after the ruck to recognize the winners of the march and the Gold Star Mothers. Trophies were given to the first, second and third place winners in the military heavy category (30-pound rucks) and to the first place winners in the military light category. A trophy was also given to the first place civilian team.

"This was an amazing experience," said MJ Flammer, USO operations manager Fort Dix/McGuire. "We don't get opportunities to participate in events like this too often - this was truly worthwhile."

"I felt truly honored to be a part of this event," said Chief Master Sgt. Scott Kilbride, 305th Air Mobility Wing command chief. "I felt extremely proud to be there, especially among the Gold Star Mothers. This was a great event for Team McGuire and the surrounding military and local communities, including the first responders and Civil Air Patrol. Thank you for supporting such a great cause."

"This was for the moms. It may have been something small, but we were trying to show our support," Sergeant Beason said. "We're a family - the military is a family. These families who lost their sons and daughters in uniform are family. I would hope my mom would be recognized if something happened to me."

Gold Star Mothers: 

Victoria Baker, mother of Ryan Baker, assigned to the 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. He died Nov. 15, 2003.

Kimberly Geonotti, mother of David Bentz III, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3sr Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. He died June 20 when the vehicle he was operating was reportedly struck by an explosive device in Baghdad.

Judith Bubeck, mother of John Thomas Bubeck, assigned to the 9th Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division in Schweinfurt, Germany. He died Dec. 26, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad.

Suzette DeTulion, mother of Ryan Douglas Christensen, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga. He died Nov. 10, 2005, of a non-combat related illness identified in Balad, Iraq.

Jackie Dixon, mother of Anthony Dixon, assigned to the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany. He died when an improvised explosive device exploded near his guard post Aug. 1, 2004.

Cindy Malmo, mother of Michael Hullender, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska. He was killed April 28 after stepping on a bomb in Iraq.

Vicky and James Mazza, parents of James Mazza, assigned to the Combat Logistics Battalion-26, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He died July 22 as a result of a motor-vehicle accident.

Pam Schwarz, mother of Michael Schwarz, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. He died Nov. 27, 2006, from wounds sustained while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.

Bernadette Sherman, mother of Stephen Sherman, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash. He was a passenger in an armored Stryker combat vehicle when it was hit by a homemade bomb in the early morning hours. He died Feb. 3, 2005.

Ruth Stonesifer, mother of Kristofor Stonesifer, assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga. He was killed Oct. 19, 2001, when his Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Pakistan.

Judith Tapper, mother of David Tapper, assigned to SEAL Team 6. He died of wounds received in action Aug. 20, 2003.

Judith Young, mother of Jeffrey Young, assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. He was killed when a bomb exploded outside the Marine barracks Oct. 23, 1983.

Darlene Freeman, mother of Bryan Freeman, assigned to 443rd Civil Affairs, Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve. He died from wounds from a small arms fire during a vehicle search Nov. 8, 2004.

Inaugural McGuire AFB Ruck March trophy winners: 

Military heavy: 

Team 44, 1:07:12 (1st place): Airman 1st Class Daniel Bryant, 436th Aerial Port Squadron, Dover AFB; Tech. Sgt. John Drane, 436th Maintenance Squadron; Master Sgt. Samuel Louie, 436 APS; and Senior Airman Mark Wolfgang, 436 APS.

Team 43, 1:07:43 (2nd place): Staff Sgt. Joshua McFall, 305th Maintenance Squadron; Staff Sgt. Seth Gressley, 305 MXS; Senior Airman Matthew Moore, 305 MXS; and Airman 1st Class Michael Nieles, 305 MXS.

Team 33, 1:09:23 (3rd place): Tech. Sgt. Mandel Pickett, 817th Contingency Response Group; Airman 1st Class John Wilson, 817 CRG; Staff Sgt. Jeremy Fernandez, 817 CRG; and Capt. Nick Baldwin, 817 CRG.

Military light: 

1st place Team 35, 1:26:35: Tech. Sgt. Angela Wittrock, 305th Aerial Port Squadron; Staff Sgt. Yarie Vrablic-Zelez, 305 APS; Senior Airman Namir Laureano, 305th Medical Group; Airman 1st Class Axayacatl Torres, 436th APS, Dover AFB.

Civilian: 

1st place Team 34, 1:37:09: Kimberly Henne, Dawn Theroux, Kim Peterson and Robert Henne