Runners Pay Homage to Jersey’s Heroes

WEST CAPE MAY – A small band of dedicated runners made their way on Sunset Boulevard shortly after 8 a.m. Sept. 24. On the start of their 186-mile trek through New Jersey, they were honoring New Jersey’s fallen heroes. Their motto: One mile. One flag. One hero.
Their journey will continue for three days. Each mile will be marked with a name, a flag, and a million memories of the life they lived, the hopes they had, the singleness with which they served.
The memorial run will wend its way up the Garden State’s coastline denoting fallen service men and women.
On the evening of Sept. 23, participants and supporters spent part of the evening at a flag-lowering ceremony at Sunset Beach to remember the lives of New Jersey’s most recent war dead.
That tribute also honored the life and legacy of Marvin Hume, a Navy veteran of World War II who died earlier this year. He was remembered as the man who honored the nation’s veterans by raising and lowering their casket flags at nightly ceremonies at his Sunset Beach property. The tradition is being continued by Hume’s family.
On the morning of Sept. 24, runners formed at the Cape May Lighthouse and went north toward the Sept. 27 finish at Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdel.
The run honors every service member from New Jersey who laid down their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, Operation New Dawn and all wars and conflicts.
The core running team is made up of active-duty military personnel. The core team runners, moving at an eight minute mile pace, carried the U.S. flag, the New Jersey state flag and the “Honor and Remember” flag. Each core team runs seven-mile sections.
The team stops at each mile along the route at hero markers for those New Jersey residents killed in battle. The core running team then presents an American flag and a personal biographical card to the waiting family members, friends and comrades. Those family members and friends often choose to join the core running team for their soldier’s mile.
Create Memorial Trail
The intent is to create a memorial trail through New Jersey.
“We’d love to see more people come out and show their support at the hero markers and for the runners along the way,” stated Eileen Kreis, vice president of the NJ Run for the Fallen. “It is an opportunity to remember the people who gave their lives and show their families how much we appreciate what they have done and the sacrifice they made.
Capt. Thomas J. Casey
Among fallen heroes is Thomas J. Casey, 32, an Army captain from Cape May Point. He was killed Jan. 3, 2008 in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was honored at Hero Marker Three at approximately 8:15 a.m. on West Lake Drive in Cape May Point.
He had been retired three years from the Army after his first tour in Iraq, when he re-enlisted and was again deployed to Iraq. He died in As Sadiyah, Iraq of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit using small arms fire during combat operations.
Sgt. Michael Scusa
Lower Cape May Regional High School graduate Michael Scusa, 22, an Army sergeant killed Oct. 3, 2009 in Kamdesh, Afghanistan was honored at Hero Marker 10 at about 10:18 a.m. in front of Lower Cape May Regional High School.
Scusa, a 2005 Lower graduate, lived in Villas. He grew up in Nebraska, moved to Cape May County in 1999 and enlisted in the Army out of high school. He had been married about two years at the time of his death and had a 1-year-old son, Connor.
The final mile of the run is dedicated to all prisoners of war and those missing in action from all military conflicts.
Kreis said that the Run for the Fallen’s website, njrunforthefallen.org, has a comprehensive map with hero marker locations and the time the running team is scheduled to arrive.