PAKTIYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Since the original Independence Day there have been times when our country has had to put service members in harms way.

Since July 4, 1776, hundreds of thousands of service members have risked their lives to ensure that America stays free. During their struggles in combat, some of them have fallen, either wounded or paying the ultimate sacrifice. With those sacrifices in mind, service members and civilians at Forward Operating Base Lightning came together for a 5K Run/Walk to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project July 4 to help raise awareness.

“I wanted to do this to commemorate the 4th of July,” said Army Maj. Brett Brown, a Regional Counter Insurgency Chief for Regional Support Command East and a main organizer for the event. “I looked around for a charity that everyone would want to support and is relevant to what we are doing out here, and the Wounded Warrior Project stood out.”

Runners gathered at the FOB flag pole early in the morning and stretched out as rock and roll music blasted over the public announcement system near the crowd. Volunteers from around the FOB also gathered to ensure the runners had plenty of water and towels for the run in the early July heat.

To complete the 5K Run/Walk, participants had to make eight complete laps around the perimeter of FOB Lightning. Large pieces of gravel cover most of the route adding another challenge for the runners and walkers. Coupled with the heat and the elevation, it made the distance more challenging.

“The only reason I kept pushing was because I was doing it for a good cause,” says Army Pfc. Christopher Marroquin, a Los Angeles, native, with the 425th Brigade Support Battalion. “I kept thinking I had to finish it.”

For people like Marroquin, the run was a good way to support the cause, but for others who had “been there”, they were running for a different reason.

“I was wounded Aug. 10, 2007 in Iraq. I received shrapnel to the head and hands, so I know what its like to go through that,” said Army Staff Sgt. Justin Bramlett, Dallas, native, and a motorpool foreman with 425th Brigade Support Battalion. “But I don’t know what its like to lose a leg or lay in a bed for a year. I was lucky.”

It’s always good to get out and raise awareness for those who are injured and wounded, added Bramlett.

For Bramlett, it’s also good to see people coming together to enjoy the holiday as a group.

“This is good for FOB cohesion,” says Bramlett. “Faces coming together who don’t get to see each other every day because we are always working. It’s how we do it in America.”

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