On July 14, 30 members of the Marine Raider Memorial March started a 900-mile journey across five states to honor the 15 Marines and U.S. Navy corpsman killed when their KC-130T aircraft crashed in Leflore County on July 10, 2017.
Their route took them through Webster County along U.S. 82 and Mississippi 182 the next morning.
“The Raider community is unique in how close we are. When we experience profound loss, the act of honoring our brothers’ memories through physical hardship only strengthens our bonds with each other,” said “rucker” Andy H. “Our love for our brothers is our strength.”
Divided into 10 teams, with the help of seven support staff, participants have been relaying across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina making this the longest recorded ruck to date. Each member is carrying a rucksack filled with 45 pounds of soil from the crash site near Itta Bena.
Ruckers are also carrying a handmade tigerwood paddle engraved with the names of all 16 men and their unit logos. The red and blue Raider Flag is also making the entire journey, along with American flags first responders draped over the fallen upon initial recovery.
The event began in Itta Bena and will end at Camp Lejeune in Stone Bay, North Carolina. The Marine Raider Memorial March participants consist of former comrades, friends and family of members of the Marine 2nd Raider Battalion.
The servicemen lost last July were Cpl. Daniel Baldassare, Staff Sgt. Robert Cox, Capt. Sean Elliott, Maj. Caine Goyette, Gunnery Sgt. Mark Hopkins, Gunnery Sgt. Brendan Johnson, Sgt. Julian Kevianne, Staff Sgt. William Kundrat, Sgt. Chad Jenson, Sgt. Talon Leach, Sgt. Owen Lennon, Sgt. Joseph Murray, Cpl. Collin Schaaff, Sgt. Dietrich Schmieman, Staff Sgt. Joshua Snowden and Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Lohrey.
Their military transport aircraft, call sign Yanky 72, crashed into a soybean field about a mile from the Leflore/Sunflower County line inside Leflore County. The plane was going from North Carolina to California for training when it crashed.
“Starting from a place that was once fire and ash, we will bring our husbands, friends and family home; rucking alongside one another, forever honoring all the brave men from Yanky 72,” stated Ashley Kundrat, Kundrat’s wife and one of the 30 members of the ruck. “Regardless of the physical and emotional discomfort, I want to show our children that regardless of what happens in life, we can stand tall, stand proud and continue to march on.”
This is the second time in two years that the Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) community has rallied to commemorate fellow soldiers killed in training. In 2015, an Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed into the Santa Rosa Sound in Navarre, Florida, killing seven Marine Raiders from team 8231. On the one-year anniversary of the Raider 7 crash, 20 Marine Raiders and Gold Star family members embarked on a 770-mile ruck carrying a paddle — the only item left intact from the crash.
“This is a devastating loss for the families and friends of our fallen brothers” said Marine Raider Memorial March Founder and Director Nathan Harris. “In 2016 we rucked 770 miles in honor of the Raider 7 and prayed there would never be another incident. We are distraught to see this happen again and our sole mission for this 900-mile journey is to honor our brothers’ memory and symbolize bringing them home.”
The marchers expected to get back Tuesday, but were going to wait until Friday to make their way onto Camp Lejeune, according to published reports. They'll go the last few miles Friday onto the base, where there will be a ceremony to give friends and family an opportunity to be a part of the final leg. The soil from the rucksacks will be used as bedding for a tree to be planted at the MARSOC in honor of those lost.
The march began after Mississippi and U.S. Marine Corps officials helped dedicate a monument to the plane crash victims. Relatives and friends of the 16 crash victims gathered July 14 for ceremonies at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena and the nearby memorial.
Marines unveiled the memorial, which displays an image of the plane set in granite and surrounded in a circle by the engraved names of the fallen. The Unveiling of the Memorial Ceremony also included the dedication a section of U.S. 82 in Leflore County as the “YANKY 72 Memorial Highway.”
All proceeds from the Marine Raider Memorial March will benefit The Brothers in Arms Foundation, a non-profit supporting the MARSOC community. For more information, visit www.ruckingraiders.com.
