CAMDENTON, Mo. -- More than 100 people passed through Camdenton on Saturday during the Lake of the Ozarks Walk/Run for the Fallen, paying tribute to soldiers who have lost their lives.
In its seventh year, participants from across Missouri, as well as some from nearby states, carried American Flags and donned clothing highlighting names of Missouri soldiers killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as they walked a one-mile trail through the Camdenton R-3 campus as many times as they chose.
Saturday was the only Run for the Fallen event in the state, and the total miles walked will be submitted to the national count of miles for Run for the Fallen.
Run for the Fallen is a national memorial run that started in June 2008 where participants collectively run/walk one mile for every service member killed during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The original route went from Fort Irwin, California, to Arlington National Cemetery, and at every mile a flag with a soldier's name was placed at that mile mark.
As part of the memorial activities Saturday a ceremony was held, featuring a slideshow of the names and faces of all 142 Missouri soldiers lost.
Audience members also heard from Camdenton resident Col. Todd Wood, Director of Operations Force Command in Afghanistan, who just returned after 48 months of combat since 9/11. Wood, who was involved in the invasion in Afghanistan in early 2000, shared his story of how he made Camdenton his home. He reminded participants why these kinds of ceremonies are important, noting one of his own soldiers lost his life and was seen in the slideshow.
"The idea of this fight and what we have going on in terms of defending this nation is still real, and I think by the very presence of this group today, you believe that," he said.
Trish Creach, executive director of the Camdenton Area Chamber of Commerce and organizer of Saturday's event, said the local memorial started in 2009 after the national runners came through in the summer of 2008.
"We were in awe of what we saw," she said, which led to the creation of Camdenton's own memorial event.
"So in 2009, and every year since, Camdenton has held the Run for the Fallen event," she said proudly.
Creach said when this started in 2008, there were 4,034 soldiers lost.
"Now it is 6,855. ... unfortunately that number has grown," Creach said. "For the first time in the six years since we have done the program, we have not had to add a name (for Missouri).
"We are going to do our part not to forget them," she said.