On day nine of Project America Run 2, Mike Ehredt honors American service members lost in the Afghanistan war during a tragic event commemorated in the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell & Patrick Robinson.
Army wife and mother Shaila joins Mike for a day on Project America Run 2, riding her bike along and placing flags for fallen servicemembers. Her husband is currently serving on his third deployment in Afghanistan, and she remembers others she’s know who’ve fallen.
Gordon, WI is a tiny town just off US 53. My day ended here yesterday afternoon and there is a certain amount of joy when I end at a gas station and find chocolate milk in great abundance. It is like Christmas morning and if there is ice cream, well lets just say I can embarass myself. It was here in Gordon that my day began today, Sunday September 2. A car pulled up alongside and I was asked if I would mind some company for a few miles. I always like company. I have someone to talk to instead of my own reflection in the mirror. Steve, Mike and Yvonne join me for a lengthy stretch. I learn that Mike and Yvonne are new parents, that their six month old son, Soren is along for the ride. I was struck by their spontaneous decision to “lets just go” when pondering whether or not to make the hour and a half drive to run with me. Ahhh yes, today people. Thats what I like, was my first thought. We talked and the miles slip by. The road begins to undulate beneath us, rising slightly and then falling. The oak and maples whisper to us. Steve tells me of how he felt he was a great deer hunter. That they could not hear him sneak up but he could never figure out why he did not see anything. It was then that he realized his hearing aid was bad…go figure. It reminded me of my Uncle “Turtle” suffering from Parkinsons, he once shot a monstrous buck by, in his words, “I pulled the trigger between shakes”.
Traffic is virtually non-existent this early. As we place flags Yvonne makes a remark of wanting a picture taken with Soren so he can one day see what this day was like. When Mom and Dad explain what they were doing on a Sunday morning on this stretch of peacefulness. It is ironic. This small baby boy, blonde hair and eyes of wonder in a world that he has inherited from generations before. Names on flags. Character and integrity and heroism that have provided him a safer world to live in. Their generation and time now gone yet not forgotten and his, just beginning. Like Soren they were full of wonder and amazement and needs so simple, carried dreams that pulled them through each day. Soren will harbor dreams just like them. A product of two great people, Soren will add richness to the world, of that, I am sure. It is like this on the road. You have a brief encounter, a speeding moment in time that pauses and you interact and then say goodbye but something goes with you….. So it is today, on US 53……………….