Lewis-McChord runners honor the fallen

March 3, 2011

By Laura M. Levering (Northwest Guardian)


Upon meeting Nancy Pardo, one might find it hard to believe that the noticeably fit woman used to hate running and struggled to jog short distances.

That changed a few months ago after one of Pardo's friends encouraged her to link up with the local running group, "wear blue: run to remember."

The DuPont resident frequently saw members of the group running through her neighborhood, and subsequently, her interest in the group grew. She began attending the group's weekend runs late last year, and within weeks noticed a change in her body and attitude towards running. "I went from not being able to run from the end of my driveway without nearly collapsing to being able to run 10 miles today," Pardo said.

She attended a kickoff dinner for the group in January, which Pardo said helped seal her commitment to the group. "I felt a little bit like an outsider at first - like these are all Army wives, and they've been through a lot, you know - like I'm not really going to fit in," Pardo said.

To her surprise, Pardo felt accepted almost immediately. "That feeling of uncertainty dissipated within 10 minutes of being there," she said. "I felt right at home. Everyone was so welcoming."

"Wear blue: run to remember" was formed by a group of Army wives whose husbands were deployed with a unit which suffered casualties of historic proportions. The group's founder, Lisa Hallett, lost her husband, Capt. John Hallett III, when he was killed Aug. 25, 2009. John was one of 40 assigned to 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, now 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, who gave the ultimate sacrifice during the brigade's yearlong deployment to Afghanistan.

The group began as a support group for wives dealing with the burdens of a stressful deployment. It has since grown to include runners, joggers and walkers reaching all demographics. "We're not a wives group anymore," Lisa said. "We're Soldiers, Airmen, spouses, Wounded Warriors, Gold Star families, community members - we're all coming together to honor the service and sacrifices of our fallen while building a bridge between the military and civilian communities."

Whether you are a beginning runner or walker, training for a marathon or simply want to show support for the military, everybody is welcome to join "wear blue: run to remember."

The group meets every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. in Powderworks Park, across from Pioneer Middle School, in DuPont. There are three different courses - all marked and with water stations - for runners and walkers of all abilities. Strollers and pets are also welcome. The only stipulation is that Lisa requests participants wear blue - the color her husband's unit often wore for PT. "Our hope is that someday every person who sees or wears that blue recognizes and appreciates the service and sacrifice of the American military," Lisa said.

After stretching and mingling prior to the 9 a.m. start, a wave of blue moves to the basketball court for welcoming remarks by Lisa or one of the group's cofounders. Going around the circle of people gathered, each person introduces themself by first name. Once introductions are completed, there is a moment of silence. The names of 5th Bde., 2nd Inf. Div.'s 41 fallen are read, followed by an opportunity for anyone to say the names of additional fallen heroes. These are moments that motivate runners like 2nd Lt. Ben Hunter to return each week. "It's really powerful when they start calling out names," said Hunter, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. "This group is all about the (servicemembers) who are fighting or who have fallen. Once I made that connection, it had a strong meaning for me."

Hunter found out about the group through his wife, who befriended some of the runners last year during Hunter's deployment. "It was great for my wife because immediately she made close friends who had a connection with military life," Hunter said. "She felt great about coming out and supporting Lisa, plus it was a way for her to cope with me being away."

Hunter is among dozens of runners who participate in "wear blue: run to remember" each week. He supports the group's mission, and has vowed not to forget his fellow servicemembers' sacrifices.
"We've been in this war for a good period of time, and it's almost like it's just become something that's going on," Hunter said. "It's easy to keep going on with your daily life and not realize that everyday there are still Soldiers sacrificing every minute of every day, allowing people to go on with their lives."

Forty-two flags mark the course - 41 of them bearing the fallen Soldiers from 5th Bde., 2nd Inf. Div., with the 42nd representing all other fallen servicemembers. They are symbolic reminders of the price Lisa's husband and thousands of others have paid. "'Run to Remember' is an incredibly tangible way for people - whether they're military or not - to come together and say, 'I really appreciate what the military does and the sacrifices the families are willing to make,'" Lisa said.
"It's two-fold," Hunter added. "One, you're getting a good workout, and then two, you're serving by doing something worthwhile."

My good friend's husband has a Purple Heart from an IED injury he sustained in Ramadi, Iraq, a few years ago. Thankfully, after surgery, his injury didn't leave him disfigured and he is 100% fine today.

On her SUV, my friend's license plate displays an image of a Purple Heart medal. In order to display this,one has to have earned a Purple Heart. Not that I was going to try to buy one, but I did ask her if just any random person could drive around with one of these on his/her license plate. She told me you have to have the documentation in order to get one. I promise...I wasn't going to try to get one... :)

Anyway, the other day, I asked her if anyone has ever noticed her license plate and said something to her about the Purple Heart. She replied saying, "not really," but that over the weekend, someone had written on her back windshield, "Thank you for your sacrifice."

She then told me it reminded her she needed to wash her car.

Photo by Jose Mandojana

The article below features the Run to Remember group that was started by Lisa Hallett and a couple other 1-17 Infantry wives last year. Lisa's husband, CPT John Hallett, was killed in Afghanistan in August 2009. The group runs to honor the fallen soldiers. They are working hard to expand beyond just military spouses. This morning, quite a few new people from the community joined the run. The following article on Lisa was published in Runner's World and was written by a former 1-17 wife and has given Run to Remember great nationwide exposure. If you are interested in purchasing a Run to Remember shirt, please comment on this posting and I'll happily arrange it. Lisa is a remarkable person (and an amazing runner!) and I greatly admire her Run to Remember vision.

MOVING COMFORT
Army wives and widows help each other cope one step at a time.
By Amy Bushatz
Runner's World
PUBLISHED 12/30/2010

It's her mantra: Run for John, run for me, just one more step. For Lisa Hallett, whether solo in a marathon or with her kids in their mammoth, triple-wide jogging stroller during training, running is how she deals with the pain, the loss, and the memory.

"It's really hard to do day-to-day things—taking my kids to preschool and taking care of the house," says Hallett, a 29-year-old full-time mom. "On most days, if nothing else, I can say I ran. On some days all I can do is get to the end of the block and cry. But on other days I hit the ground and I can say, 'I ran 20 miles this morning.'"

Her husband, Capt. John Hallett, and three fellow Army soldiers died in Afghanistan on August 25, 2009, when an improvised explosive device caused their vehicle to flip and burst into flames. With a 3-week-old baby girl, Heidi, and two toddler sons, Jackson and Bryce, suddenly relying on her alone, Hallett found solace in the pavement.

She had run her first marathon in 2002 while John was in one of the Army's most challenging courses, Ranger School. During his absences, runs were a time to daydream about his return. Now they've become a spiritual escape. "There's a lot of conversations with God, there's a lot of sorting," says Hallett, whose marathon PR is 4:05. "I think about being strong for John. I know that's cliche, but I feel like I'm John's physical representation now."

Soon after his death, she laced up and ran with two military wives from John's unit—the 1-17 Infantry Stryker Battalion based in Fort Lewis, Washington. Since then, their group has expanded; nearly two dozen wives and widows meet every Saturday morning. They call themselves Run to Remember, and they've done marathons, with plans to run the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon in June.

"When I run, it's the only time I let myself connect with my emotions," says Alice Pope, 36, an original member of the group who increased her mileage to deal with the fear that her husband may not make it home alive. "This is the closest I can come to relating to what he's going through. You have to take another step—it's boring, it hurts, it's also exciting."

"While my husband was deployed, the runs were time set aside for me to reflect and pray," says Charlene Lewis, 38, the wife of the chaplain who was serving with the battalion. "We keep each other moving on runs just like we do during deployment—we keep each other going."

Grieving experts say that people sometimes don't know how to relate to someone who has suffered a tragedy. "Running can be an outlet for working through loss, and shared running can bond people," says Joanne M. Steen, coauthor of Military Widow: A Survival Guide.

The women hope that by running and racing while wearing blue shirts with "Run to Remember" on the front and the names of the brigade's fallen soldiers on the back, they'll be a visual reminder of the fallen and those who are still serving.

On a recent damp and cool Pacific Northwest Saturday morning, 20 women gathered to start their weekly run. The ritual is steeped in tradition, like most things in the Army. At 10 a.m., the women formed a circle. Lewis glanced at Hallett before saying, "I'll read the names." She started down the list of men who died in combat or, in one case, committed suicide since August 2009.

"Sgt. Troy Tom, Spc. Jonathan Yanney, Capt. John Hallett," Lewis says. At her husband's name, Hallett fixed her gaze hard into empty space. She was focusing on thoughts of John, the same thing she thinks about when she runs, she says.

It took Lewis another full minute to finish the list of 41 names. Then after short prayer, the women ran off.

For more information, email: runtoremember@teamrwb.org

Not too long ago I was sitting at the colonel's wife's house for a monthly coffee. It was around dinner time and there was a handful of other army wives there. People had gone through the buffet line and were seated around the dining room table chatting with one another. During a lull in the various conversations, the colonel's wife welcomed everybody and began talking about upcoming important dates and events.

It's funny for me to think back 5 years to when I first began going to these FRG meetings. I was a total newbie and relatively low on the military wife spectrum in terms of my husband's rank and responsibilities. Now, 5 deployments and several years later, it's weird to know that I am the position that I once thought was so "formal." The funny part is: it's really not at all formal and somehow, while a lot has happened in 5 years, I still feel like that newbie 29 year-old. Too bad I don't look like her anymore...

I digress. Back to the coffee night.

The colonel's wife kept referring to "the greens," saying things like, "We'll talk to the greens about it and see if they agree." I sat there trying to figure out who these mysterious "greens" were and if I had met them before. Finally, when she paused for questions, I raised my hand, simultaneously asking aloud who the greens were to which she kept referring.

"The greens are our husbands; you know...uniforms...green."

We all started laughing. And there I sat: 5 years as an army wife, just as clueless as when it all began.