TULSA, Okla. — Organizers of Saturday’s “Welcome Home 5k” in Mohawk Park are hoping whoever stole twelve steel placeholders for photos of fallen service members will do the right thing and return them.
The founder of Eagle Ops, Johnathon Shepherd is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who puts on the race every year around Veteran’s Day to honor fallen service members.
Shepard discovered that some of the placeholders for the photos that line the Eagle Ops “Honor Mile” were missing on Wednesday. To say Shepherd was disappointed that someone would walk off with items intended to be used for a veteran fundraiser would be an understatement.
However, Shepherd said he received a call from Bryant Colvin from Custom Metal Works in Tulsa, who offered to build replacement sign holders for Saturday’s event. They are the same company that built the original batch of frames.
On Saturday morning, the final stretch of the “Welcome Home 5k” will be lined with 242 images of fallen service members like U.S. Army Sgt. Jason McCluskey, who was killed in action on November 4, 2010 and U.S. Army Specialist William Mulvihill who was killed in action on August 1, 2008.
The photos are secured in black custom-made steel frames. On Wednesday morning Johnathon Shepherd discovered 12 of the frames were missing from the display of 130 he had started to set up on Tuesday.
“I come down here and I circle around with a trailer and there’s a gap there by this water hydrant that wasn’t there last night,” he explained. “Are you kidding me, someone really took my signs?”
The last mile of the 5k is called the “Honor Mile” because plans call for the images of fallen service members to be put in place facing runners and walkers as they finish the last mile of the race.
However, there was no honor in what happened either late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning after Shepherd had placed 130 frames into the ground.
We spoke with Gold Star Sister Christine Holman about the missing frames. She told us she’s participated in the event every year to honor her baby brother, Sgt. First Class Michael Bruck, who served with the U.S. Army as a Ranger with the 101st Airborne Division.
“It’s disheartening,” Holman said when she heard about the theft, “It’s heartbreaking to do something like that for these fallen soldiers, and now there’s no placement for those soldiers for everyone to remember.”
Holman explained that the entire purpose of the event is to honor their loved one and never forget for what they did.
The event is in its fourth year. If you’re interested in helping to re-install the frames for Saturday’s event, you can call 918-527-2828.
The “Welcome Home 5k” hopes to bring awareness to the epidemic of veteran suicide.
The run/walk is a fundraiser, and all of the proceeds will go to the Eagle Ops Foundation and Disabled American Veterans of Oklahoma.
For more information just click on the following link: https://eagleops.org/welcomehome5k.
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