In 2010, retired army veteran Mike Ehredt embarked on Project America Run, a personal journey across the United States to honor the American soldiers who had lost their lives in Iraq. Running more than 30 miles a day, alone, Mike stopped every mile from the Oregon coast to the Coast of Maine to plant a flag inscribed with the name, rank, age, and hometown of a fallen American soldier.
But he didn’t stop there. In 2012, he ran 2,146 miles from the Canadian border to Galveston, TX, and placed flags in remembrance of every American casualty in Afghanistan. We did a fun Q+A with him, post-run. The end result of all of his dedication and time? A 6,570-mile wall of honor and gratitude, built out of one man’s humble objective to show his profound thanks to the men and women who sacrificed their lives for America’s freedom.
(Picture from Operation Gratitude.)
On a day when we in the United States honor those who serve, and send our gratitude to their families, we wanted to again highlight Mike and his amazing runs, and give you an opportunity to pay it forward. Hyland’s, who supports both AMR and Project America Run, also supports Operation Gratitude. This year, they’re asking people to write From Home, With Love letters to the troops, which will be included, along with some Defend Severe Cold + Flu, in some of the 150,000+ care packages Operation Gratitude sends annually.
Have five minutes to write a note to a service member? I hope so. It’s super easy….you don’t even have to leave your keyboard. Click here to thank them, share some of your thoughts, and make somebody’s day. Thank you—and more importantly, thank you to everybody and every family who serves.
Why is everything liked to Facebook? I would love to participate and write a note to a soldier but I am not on Facebook. I understand social media is a huge platform but seriously, there are some of us out there who choose not to participate in it and it really leaves us out.
Courtney, we totally hear you that not everyone is on Facebook, and we would hate to let it stop your from writing a letter to a service member this holiday season. If you are comfortable emailing Hyland’s your letter directly, Hyland’s assures us they will download, print on special holiday paper and include with the rest of the wonderful letters Hyland’s will be sending to Operation Gratitude later this month. Please forward it to the caring folks at Hyland’s at stressless [at] hylands [dot] com. Thanks for having a big heart, and asking for an alternative way to reach out.
Courtney, our county clerks have a program where they collect Christmas cards and forward them on to service men and women. Perhaps you can find something local? It is a good use for all those charity cards you receive in the mail.
Courtney (and others)…..another way to support our servicemen/women is through Operation Write Home. they forward on homemade greeting cards to people stationed overseas to send home to their families. they also include letters of thanks to the service people. I have worked with them for over 3 years and hold them in the highest regard. you can find more information here: http://operationwritehome.org/anyhero/