thedrifter
08-08-09, 06:09 AM
Marines Arrive to Run in Ryan Jerabek's Footsteps
Updated: Aug 7, 2009 11:05 PM
By Kristin Byrne
Among hundreds of runners Saturday will be U.S. Marines reporting for the Ryan Jerabek Memorial Challenge, to run a course designed by a former comrade and fallen Marine.
Private First Class Ryan Jerabek died in April 2004 in a battle with insurgents in Iraq.
More than 1,200 people are expected to run a four-mile course in Hobart in his memory, including a handful of Marines from Jerabek's unit.
Captain Sean Schickel was Jerabek's unit commander in Iraq. He made the trip from Virginia with his three children to run for Jerabek for the first time.
Schickel was there the day Jerabek was killed in combat. He says the unit was like a family, and soon some will reunite.
"It's going to be sort of a reunion for the Marines that served with Ryan in Iraq. There's going to be quite a few who are going to come here and race this year, so it's pretty neat."
Not only are the Marines who served with Jerabek in Iraq running Saturday but some Marines currently serving in Jerabek's unit came to run the challenge, too.
And for those Marines, the story of Jerabek's battalion is one you never forget.
Lieutenant Timothy O'Neil of Battalion Team 2-4 said, "As a Marine, the deployment that went 2-4 went on that year in 2004 is very well-known and very historic deployment to Ramani, Iraq. They want through some of the fierce fighting, the global war on terrorism."
O'Neil and other members in his unit will present the colors at the run.
After the race, the Jerabek family plans to welcome his military family into their home.
"It's kind of a healing process for them, too," Jerabek's father, Ken, said. "We're going to have a get-together with them at our home so they get a chance to see where Ryan grew up and get to know a little bit more about him and why they considered him his baby brother."
"I remember the character he was. Just a great kid, and did a lot of great things," Captain Schickel said.
Schickel is glad he'll get a chance to run the same course Jerabek used to train for the Marine Corps.
"We're going to be walking in his footprints, if you will," Schickel said.
Ellie
Updated: Aug 7, 2009 11:05 PM
By Kristin Byrne
Among hundreds of runners Saturday will be U.S. Marines reporting for the Ryan Jerabek Memorial Challenge, to run a course designed by a former comrade and fallen Marine.
Private First Class Ryan Jerabek died in April 2004 in a battle with insurgents in Iraq.
More than 1,200 people are expected to run a four-mile course in Hobart in his memory, including a handful of Marines from Jerabek's unit.
Captain Sean Schickel was Jerabek's unit commander in Iraq. He made the trip from Virginia with his three children to run for Jerabek for the first time.
Schickel was there the day Jerabek was killed in combat. He says the unit was like a family, and soon some will reunite.
"It's going to be sort of a reunion for the Marines that served with Ryan in Iraq. There's going to be quite a few who are going to come here and race this year, so it's pretty neat."
Not only are the Marines who served with Jerabek in Iraq running Saturday but some Marines currently serving in Jerabek's unit came to run the challenge, too.
And for those Marines, the story of Jerabek's battalion is one you never forget.
Lieutenant Timothy O'Neil of Battalion Team 2-4 said, "As a Marine, the deployment that went 2-4 went on that year in 2004 is very well-known and very historic deployment to Ramani, Iraq. They want through some of the fierce fighting, the global war on terrorism."
O'Neil and other members in his unit will present the colors at the run.
After the race, the Jerabek family plans to welcome his military family into their home.
"It's kind of a healing process for them, too," Jerabek's father, Ken, said. "We're going to have a get-together with them at our home so they get a chance to see where Ryan grew up and get to know a little bit more about him and why they considered him his baby brother."
"I remember the character he was. Just a great kid, and did a lot of great things," Captain Schickel said.
Schickel is glad he'll get a chance to run the same course Jerabek used to train for the Marine Corps.
"We're going to be walking in his footprints, if you will," Schickel said.
Ellie