On Saturday, August 19th, Fort Leavenworth was one of many sites to host the Run for the Fallen, in which Americans are encouraged to run in memory of servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
MCTP had many Soldiers and family members participating, most of whom ran in memory of COL. John McHugh. Participants could write the name of the servicemember they ran in memory of on their “bibs.”
John McHugh was a graduate of the United States Military Academy. In 1986, he was commissioned into the Aviation Branch and was soon flying UH-60 Blackhawks. He flew in Operation Desert Storm and had a distinguished career, including two assignments to the Battle Command Training Program (as MCTP was known at the time). Tragically, he was killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan in May 2010 while assigned to BCTP. COL McHugh became one of the most senior-ranking U.S. officers to die in Operation Enduring Freedom and the only BCTP Program member to die in combat.
Earlier this year the Battle Seminar Facility was renamed the McHugh Training Center in his honor. Naming buildings for the fallen has been an Army tradition for a long time (as is widely evident on Fort Leavenworth) but events like the Run for the Fallen allow the memory to stay fresh.
COL Sexton, who was one of the participants in the event, said “It was a great event that reminds Families and friends of those who have given the last full measure of human devotion that the sacrifices they have endured have not been in vain and they will never be forgotten.”
LTC Crabtree
HHD Commander CPT Pace and his wife in the Run for the Fallen
