Relay teams will carry an American flag, an Honor and Remember flag and an Honor and Sacrifice flag.

SILVER LAKE — At approximately 8 a.m. Friday, June 22, a team of runners participating in the Run for the Fallen event will be stopping at the main intersection in Silver Lake, near Subway. Residents who would like to line up to watch and cheer the runners on will be provided with small flags to wave.

“The Silver Lake community has been very helpful to the Patriot Guard and to the Honor and Remember organization as far as care packages and sponsoring flags,” said Indiana Patriot Guard Northeast Indiana Senior Ride Captain Russell Bauer.

On April 7, 2018, Honor and Remember Inc. launched America’s Run for the Fallen, a fallen military tribute event. The event will honor the men and women who died as a result of military service since the attack on the USS Cole in 2000. A rotating team of more than 400 active duty military and civilian members across the nation embarked on a 19 state, 6,100 mile journey to honor all fallen service members, numbering nearly 20,000. 

The event began at Fort Irwin, Calif., with a starting ceremony for the five month, 6,000 plus mile mission through California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, and will finish at Arlington National Cemetery on Sunday, Aug. 5. 

Each mile of the run is dedicated to individual heroes and their families, based on the chronological date of their death. Carrying a full-size American flag, an Honor and Remember flag and an Honor and Sacrifice flag, along wth hero information, each relay team stops at one mile intervals where a pre-staked marker is placed. They call each name out loud and deliver a short tribute.

Honor and Remember Inc. was founded by George Lutz of Virginia. Lutz’s son, Tony, was killed in Iraq in 2007. In the months following Tony’s funeral, George Lutz visited other families who had lost loved ones in the Iraq war. Lutz discovered that once the initial grief had transitioned to numbness and then acceptance, most families wanted two things: to know that the sacrifice of their loved one was not in vain, and to know that the nation would never forget. This led to research on Lutz’s part to see if there was a universally recognized symbol that specifically acknowledges American service men and women who never made it home. When he found nothing, the idea for the Honor and Remember flag was conceived.

The Honor and Remember organization presents flags to families of military members killed in action as well as those who have died as a result of their service. Each flag is personalized and hand-sewn, and there is no cost to the family for the flag. On Memorial Day of 2008, in Norfolk, Virginia, the Honor and Remember flag was publicly unveiled. This flag was established as a reminder to all Americans of the high price paid for the freedoms we enjoy. It represents all generations of fallen heroes from all wars, and includes all branches of service and all causes of death. 

“I love those guys and what they stand for,” said  Bauer. “They invite every gold star family for that name to that mile marker for 6,000 miles – more than 20,000 names – it’s just an incredible thing.”

Covering approximately 50 miles daily, each day will conclude with an ending ceremony at planned stopping points. The goal of Run for the Fallen is to create a memorial trail across America, recognizing every service member who died as a result of serving in the armed forces.