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56th SBCT Memorial Marathon

Jul- 9-2009 » Filed Under: 56th SBCT

I wish I had discovered The Warhead earlier. It's is a blog written by CPT Ed Shank of the 108th FA, 56th SBCT. His most recent entry is a great long piece on an effort to organize the 108th Field Artillery Memorial Day Marathon and Half-Marathon in Iraq to honor SSG Mark Baum.

Although 1st Lt. Jeremy Arnett had never met Staff Sgt. Mark Baum, he felt a connection. Like Baum, Arnett was a father and husband serving in a country far away from his family. Arnett knew that, if he were to die in combat, he would want his wife and child to feel that they could count on his fellow soldiers to help ease the sense of inconsolable loss.

"I kept thinking "what can I do?'" said Arnett. "I just kept thinking of how my family would feel if I didn't come home."

That's when the lieutenant, an avid runner with two marathons under his belt, approached his commander with the idea of hosting a marathon to raise money for Baum's family and the families of other soldiers who (God forbid) were lost during the brigade's tour in Iraq.


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