Video: Nevada veterans remember the fallen by carrying their ID tags across the state – The Nevada Independent

On a windswept hill close to Dayton, simply outdoors Carson Metropolis, Felipe Gutierrez De Alba stands in entrance of roughly 7,000 army ID tags, organized in bricks of 500 and wrapped neatly in American flags.

“One in every of these is insignificant, weight-wise. Everybody carried them round their necks and by no means seen them,” stated Gutierrez De Alba. “However once you put them collectively, you actually really feel that weight.”

Gathered round him, with an assortment of flags and packs able to be loaded, are the contributors of Operation Battle Born: Ruck to Keep in mind. Rucking, a army time period for marching with heavy packs, is an expertise shared by each service member.

Ruck to Keep in mind is a partnership between Truckee Meadows Veterans Membership and the UNLV Insurgent Vets that began at a Scholar Veterans of America convention with an bold concept: Deliver veterans collectively by difficult them to stroll throughout Nevada.

In 2018, they did simply that. About 150 individuals carried greater than 80 kilos of tags — one for each service member killed in motion since September 11, 2001 —  practically 400 miles from Las Vegas to Fernley. Contributors signed up for sections of about 10 miles in a relay that lasted 10 days and ended on Memorial Day.

“Having that mission is basically what drives veterans,” stated Gutierrez De Alba, who served six years within the Marine Corps. “Sharing these tales whilst you’re strolling 9 miles collectively, remembering these individuals that you just served with otherwise you doubtlessly misplaced to fight or suicide. That’s what that is about.”

This yr, due to issues about COVID, the teams held separate occasions. UNLV Insurgent Vets went from Amargosa Valley to Boulder Metropolis, whereas Truckee Meadows Veterans Membership began in Carson Metropolis and marched to Fernley. In each instances, they ended at a veterans cemetery on Memorial Day.

Alex Silveira participated within the relay on all three days of the occasion, strolling greater than 18 miles in whole. He’s president of Wolf Pack Veterans membership at UNR and served within the Military from 2007 to 2013. Silveira turned 34 on the final day of the ruck. Each time Memorial Day falls on his birthday, he makes positive individuals know, “Immediately isn’t about me. Immediately is concerning the women and men of the armed forces, my brothers and sisters, who’ve fallen.”

Yearly, the Nevada Division of Veterans Companies hosts the Memorial Day remembrance occasion on the Fernley cemetery. Jerome Washington, an Military veteran who has walked with Ruck to Keep in mind since its inception, served because the keynote speaker this yr.

“We rucked, carrying the canine tags of our fallen comrades,” Washington stated in his deal with. “We keep in mind their tales, keep in mind their life, keep in mind their legacy.

At each changeover level, Gutierrez De Alba fastidiously unpacked a flag containing two bundles of tags and confirmed it to the incoming group. First is a sequence of 58 tags with the names of each Nevadan service member killed since 9/11, and the second is a hoop of 18 tags, representing the variety of veterans who take their very own lives within the U.S. day by day.

“We needed to carry consideration to that, and let everybody know that they need to attain out to their household and associates,” Gutierrez De Alba stated. “You by no means know what a cellphone name will do for any individual.”

John Fenton enlisted within the Nevada Nationwide Guard when he was 17, however after coming house from Iraq in 2007, he had a troublesome time transitioning to civilian life.

“I got here again from Iraq [on] September 11, 2007, and drank myself into my first rehab, with the assistance of ache drugs, prescribed by the VA, throughout the first month.”

Fenton struggled with drug and alcohol dependancy for years and even frolicked in jail. He needed to attend faculty when he was launched however didn’t know the right way to begin. So he walked into the veterans useful resource heart at Reno’s Truckee Meadows Group Faculty, the place he met Gutierrez De Alba.

“He is at all times championed me and I have been in a position to be actual and trustworthy with him from the start,” Fenton stated. “He modified my life. So when he says, ‘You wish to go march with some canine tags in your again?’ I’m going to say sure each time.”

When he places on that rucksack, Fenton stated he shall be fascinated by Military Sgt. Jason Schumann, who died in 2007 outdoors Nasariah, Iraq, after his car was struck by an improvised explosive machine. Going ahead, he needs to ensure he honors these fallen by by no means once more losing the chance their sacrifices afford him.