Crowds cheered on Saturday as the two Marines and crew of supporters rounded the corner of Front and Market streets and headed north to the relay point. Along the way, they would pass small groupings of neighbors and supporters, many waving flags and giving high fives, as they made their way on the 770 mile mission to honor seven Marines who died in a 2015 helicopter crash during a training mission.
Waiting to meet the Marine Raider Memorial March at the end of that leg of the “ruck march” was Destiny Flynn, the wife of Staff Sgt. Liam Flynn, one of the Marine Raiders killed in the crash.
“He would probably think we’re all crazy, but he’d be out there doing the same thing for his brothers,” she said.
Flynn wasn’t just watching, she had done her own share of marching too, as she took part in an earlier leg of the march that day. It was just one segment of a journey that took 14 members of the Marine Raider regiment from Navarre, Florida, the site of the crash, to Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C.
“It’s been a healing process. It’s been humbling,” said Flynn, who lives in Maple Hill, N.C. “The support shows that people care and that there’s still patriotism.”
They ruck marched to return to 2nd Marine Raider Battalion the only item surviving from the crash: a paddle. The Marines also carried a 45-pound weight in their pack, part of the training for a ruck march. They split into seven teams of two Marines each, with each team rucking about 11 miles before the next team takes over. They march for 24 hours over the course of 10 days.
Staff Sgt. Caleb, one of the Marines on the march, said he knew all Marines in the March 10, 2015 crash off of the Florida panhandle, which also killed four Louisiana National Guardsmen. The Marines said they could only identify themselves by their first names.
“It’s special to be able to participate. It means a lot,” he said. “They would definitely be honored and humbled by the support. Any of us here would do this for each other.”
Jean Suarez, who brought her sons Aiden and Gavin with her from Swansboro, N.C. to honor a friend killed in the crash, said the march and its turnout was “extremely important.”
“It shows that there’s still hometown support for the troops,” she said.
The fallen Marines included Capt. Stanford H. Shaw III, Master Sgt. Thomas A. Saunders, Staff Sgt. Liam A. Flynn, Staff Sgt. Andrew Seif, Staff Sgt. Trevor Blaylock, Staff Sgt. Marcus Bawol, Staff Sgt. Kerry Kemp. The National Guardsmen included Chief Warrant Officer George Wayne Griffin Jr., Chief Warrant Officer George David Strother, Staff Sgt. Lance Bergeron and Staff Sgt. Thomas Florich.
