1 00:00:00,393 --> 00:00:01,226 (soft music) 2 00:00:01,226 --> 00:00:02,526 - [Announcer] And running! 3 00:00:04,370 --> 00:00:07,007 - I always get the question of, 4 00:00:07,007 --> 00:00:09,250 "Why is this dummy running with this binder?" 5 00:00:09,250 --> 00:00:11,577 Like, "He must be some staff guy, 6 00:00:11,577 --> 00:00:14,310 "that is just all about his work or something." 7 00:00:14,310 --> 00:00:15,647 And I turn around and I said, 8 00:00:15,647 --> 00:00:18,297 "No that's not what this is, 9 00:00:18,297 --> 00:00:22,140 "this is the Vietnam Memorial Wall that I have in my hand." 10 00:00:22,140 --> 00:00:26,260 And after that the tone of the conversation 11 00:00:26,260 --> 00:00:28,537 changes dramatically, 'cause they're like, 12 00:00:28,537 --> 00:00:29,430 "Are you serious?" 13 00:00:29,430 --> 00:00:30,640 And I'm like, "Yes." 14 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,580 So I open the book up to the first page 15 00:00:33,580 --> 00:00:36,010 and I show them, and they start looking like, 16 00:00:36,010 --> 00:00:39,280 holy smoke, he has literally the Vietnam Memorial Wall 17 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,220 in his hand, and he's running with it 18 00:00:42,220 --> 00:00:45,003 the entire length of the race. 19 00:00:51,010 --> 00:00:53,430 Sometimes the book is a little cumbersome 20 00:00:53,430 --> 00:00:56,600 but it doesn't bother me because 21 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,410 it's 58,000 plus fallen comrades in that book. 22 00:01:00,410 --> 00:01:05,050 So what I'm doing for this little short period of time, 23 00:01:05,050 --> 00:01:09,610 it's nowhere near the price that they had to pay 24 00:01:09,610 --> 00:01:10,840 for us to do what we do. 25 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:15,840 I carry the binder on all of the military-oriented races, 26 00:01:16,620 --> 00:01:19,480 Marine Corps Marathon, the Soldier Marathon, 27 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:24,203 the Air Force Marathon and the Navy Nautical. 28 00:01:26,626 --> 00:01:31,626 A lot of what shaped me goes back to Terry Leon Williams, 29 00:01:31,940 --> 00:01:34,930 United States Marine Corps 0311 Infantry. 30 00:01:34,930 --> 00:01:38,436 It started there, I think my military service started there. 31 00:01:38,436 --> 00:01:39,573 He was a Marine, and he was a Marine's Marine. 32 00:01:41,023 --> 00:01:42,560 He was a man's man. 33 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,073 And I learned a lot from him. 34 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,140 Several years ago when I, my dad had just passed, 35 00:01:50,140 --> 00:01:51,870 and I was looking for ways, 36 00:01:51,870 --> 00:01:54,930 not just to honor Vietnam veterans, 37 00:01:54,930 --> 00:01:56,860 but to honor my dad. 38 00:01:56,860 --> 00:02:01,860 And so I said how about we just print the names 39 00:02:04,030 --> 00:02:05,730 of this Vietnam Memorial Wall out, 40 00:02:05,730 --> 00:02:08,870 that was his comrades, those were the people 41 00:02:08,870 --> 00:02:10,480 he went to war with. 42 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,750 I knew then that this was way bigger 43 00:02:13,750 --> 00:02:16,610 than I could ever imagine. 44 00:02:16,610 --> 00:02:18,913 When I came back from OIF, 45 00:02:20,010 --> 00:02:25,010 the plane landed and they had fire trucks on the runway, 46 00:02:25,610 --> 00:02:27,030 and they were spraying water 47 00:02:27,030 --> 00:02:28,740 and it had a big American flag on it, 48 00:02:28,740 --> 00:02:30,950 and it was just a really big deal. 49 00:02:30,950 --> 00:02:33,620 We got off the plane and everybody was hugging 50 00:02:33,620 --> 00:02:35,170 and kissing us, it was crazy. 51 00:02:35,170 --> 00:02:36,560 You know, it was like, "Holy smoke," 52 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,040 it was hundreds, thousands of Soldiers 53 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,900 walking through the airport and I thought to myself, 54 00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:43,630 my dad and his comrades didn't get that. 55 00:02:43,630 --> 00:02:46,290 It wasn't America's finest hour. 56 00:02:46,290 --> 00:02:51,290 So that's why I chose, in my small way, 57 00:02:51,620 --> 00:02:54,550 to show my appreciation for him and them 58 00:02:54,550 --> 00:02:56,650 for their service to this nation. 59 00:02:56,650 --> 00:02:58,300 It's an act of remembrance, 60 00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:00,840 and it's an act of appreciation 61 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:02,453 for them and what they've done. 62 00:03:05,183 --> 00:03:07,210 My dad really didn't talk about Vietnam. 63 00:03:07,210 --> 00:03:11,147 My uncle Henry, he went to Vietnam with my dad, 64 00:03:12,020 --> 00:03:15,660 he didn't make it, I mean he came back, 65 00:03:15,660 --> 00:03:19,770 he came back, but he wasn't the same. 66 00:03:19,770 --> 00:03:22,310 The hidden scars of combat. 67 00:03:22,310 --> 00:03:26,400 He presented them outwardly, 68 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,103 and by doing so he ended up committing suicide. 69 00:03:35,650 --> 00:03:38,390 Every time I go to the Ten-Miler 70 00:03:38,390 --> 00:03:39,880 I visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall, 71 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,780 and it is a very moving experience for me. 72 00:03:43,780 --> 00:03:48,780 I connect with the memorial itself, 73 00:03:48,980 --> 00:03:52,620 to the point where the names that I have in the binder, 74 00:03:52,620 --> 00:03:54,720 I find 'em on the wall. 75 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,240 And I sort of walk the wall, ever so slowly, 76 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:00,210 just looking from panel to panel. 77 00:04:00,210 --> 00:04:03,810 I connect with those 58,000 plus fallen comrades 78 00:04:03,810 --> 00:04:05,260 on the Vietnam Memorial Wall. 79 00:04:05,260 --> 00:04:08,200 I didn't appreciate it then, 80 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,440 before my military service began, 81 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:13,840 but I sure as heck understood where he came from 82 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:16,653 after my military service began, 83 00:04:18,150 --> 00:04:22,300 because after that you see things through your own lens, 84 00:04:22,300 --> 00:04:23,770 through your own eyes. 85 00:04:23,770 --> 00:04:27,480 You can see how beautiful this world is, 86 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,510 and at the same time how dangerous it is, 87 00:04:30,510 --> 00:04:31,860 and how deadly it could be. 88 00:04:34,810 --> 00:04:36,780 This was pre-Army. 89 00:04:36,780 --> 00:04:40,870 And so I was like the ice cream man right here, 90 00:04:40,870 --> 00:04:45,870 and so, I lost my love of running at that time. 91 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,460 Because in the Navy it's all about systems and ships, 92 00:04:50,460 --> 00:04:52,390 and there's not a lot of room to maneuver, 93 00:04:52,390 --> 00:04:53,580 to run on the ship. 94 00:04:53,580 --> 00:04:56,310 One of the things that I'm significantly, 95 00:04:56,310 --> 00:05:00,260 or seriously passionate about in the Army 96 00:05:00,260 --> 00:05:02,743 is people and Soldiers. 97 00:05:03,700 --> 00:05:06,880 And the Navy's a little bit different, 98 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,810 it's not about people, at least from my position. 99 00:05:09,810 --> 00:05:12,390 It wasn't about people, it was about systems. 100 00:05:12,390 --> 00:05:14,630 The Army is definitely all about people. 101 00:05:14,630 --> 00:05:16,640 And when I get to the Army Ten-Miler 102 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:20,950 I literally see people that I haven't seen 103 00:05:20,950 --> 00:05:22,750 in probably 10, 15 years. 104 00:05:22,750 --> 00:05:23,700 It's a huge family reunion, 105 00:05:23,700 --> 00:05:25,230 I ain't seen people in a long time, 106 00:05:25,230 --> 00:05:26,350 usually see everybody there. 107 00:05:26,350 --> 00:05:30,150 It's just like, one of the most exciting races for me 108 00:05:30,150 --> 00:05:33,110 when it comes to just reconnecting with Soldiers 109 00:05:33,110 --> 00:05:34,250 that you've served with over time. 110 00:05:34,250 --> 00:05:37,202 What the military has is traditions. 111 00:05:37,202 --> 00:05:38,600 They've got a lot of traditions, 112 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,570 and a whole lot of legacy. 113 00:05:40,570 --> 00:05:42,980 I mean, so that legacy just keeps going on and on, 114 00:05:42,980 --> 00:05:45,100 and they have a legacy of war fighters. 115 00:05:45,100 --> 00:05:47,260 With that legacy, they have people 116 00:05:47,260 --> 00:05:49,600 who paid the ultimate sacrifice. 117 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,430 And you don't ever want that legacy to be lost. 118 00:05:52,430 --> 00:05:54,070 So I carry this book, 119 00:05:54,070 --> 00:05:58,060 and that book, to me, signifies that you never, ever 120 00:05:58,060 --> 00:06:01,520 forget what other people have done for this nation 121 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:05,466 to make sure that we can continue to be free. 122 00:06:05,466 --> 00:06:08,299 (uplifting music)