Since the attacks of 11 September 2001, approximately 7,000 American service members have been killed in action. Additionally, thousands of non-combat deaths have occurred. Each man or woman we lost has a name. Each served and sacrificed bravely. Each had hopes and dreams for the future. Each still has people who desperately love them.
As the mother of a United States Marine, I have come to know firsthand that all of us who have loved ones serving in the military share two common fears. We not only fear losing our loved ones, but that their service, sacrifice, and the memory of their lives will be forgotten. I can not imagine the heart-wrenching pain that comes with losing a loved one in war. I have friends that have lost husbands, sons, or daughters to war and the pain seems to have no end. For some, peace evades them and they live in darkness. This is why I started Medals of Honor.
Medals of Honor gives the endurance race community a tangible way to remember, thank and give back to the families who lost loved ones while serving in our military. Through our campaign, racers can compete in honor of a fallen U.S hero and donate their finisher’s medal to the surviving family. The medals act as a symbol of bravery, courage, and remembrance. As a predominantly self-funded nonprofit, we do not seek monetary donations from either the racers or military families. Our only request is that racers sacrifice their hard-earned medals to honor the service, sacrifice, and memory of a fallen hero. It’s that simple.
5 Ways You Can Help
- Go to our website MedalsofHonor.org
- Nominate a fallen hero to be honored.
- Register to honor a fallen hero through your racing and donate your finisher’s medal to the surviving family.
- Donate your old medals or BDUs to be repurposed. This is how we fund our campaign we take old and surplus racer medals and repurpose them into items to sell to keep our campaign going. From the donated items we make headbands, keychains, bracelets, coasters and magnets. 100% of the proceeds go to keeping our campaign running.
- Help connect our campaign with a race organization to receive their surplus medals.
Registering to Race For a Hero
- Once registered you’ll receive a welcome email.
- Email us before your event and we will give you the name of a fallen hero to honor at your event.
- Decide how you want to display your hero’s name. You can download the PDF sign or race bib and write your hero’s name on it. You can make a yellow ribbon containing their name and pin it to your person or gear. Or you could order a name tape or dog tag from US Patriot Tactical in your hero’s name and display it during your event.
- Once your event is complete mail us your medal. We will repackage it along with a handwritten note to the surviving family including information on your event.
Are you doing the Bataan Death March?
We will be at the US Patriot Tactical booth handing our Remembrance Ribbons containing the names of fallen heroes for you to attach to your packs during the march. As the march gets closer we will post the date and time for ribbon pick-up. If you would like to have a ribbon made for a fallen hero, please go to our Facebook page and add their name to the post chain. On my personal website I have some articles on how to survive the Death March and a pack packing list.
So no sacrifice goes unhonored, please help spread our campaign by using the hashtag #MedalsofHonor and tagging us @MedalsofHonor on Facebook.
Disclaimer: The content in this article is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of US Patriot Tactical.
