the man on your screen is my very good
friend Todd Bates who died on December
the 10th 2003 in Baghdad Iraq while
trying to save another soldier from
drowning every year I set aside December
the 10th as a day to honor and remember
his life our friendship and his
sacrifice this year marks the 20th
anniversary of his death and I plan on
honoring him by going on a 50m ruck
march I would like to use this
opportunity to raise some money for his
hometown football team the Belair Big
Reds if you lend me your ears for a
moment I'd like to explain how and why I
came to this
decision Todd was a very special young
man who grew up in the southern Ohio
town of belir
like too many kids of our world today
Todd's parents weren't setting him up
for Success he was actually raised by
his grandmother Todd had dreams of
leaving his small town and the Troubles
of his childhood behind and he believed
that joining the Army was his ticket out
the only problem was that Todd had to
lose over 100 lb just to meet the
minimum heighten weight standard to join
the Army for Todd losing 100 lb wasn't
about looking good in the mirror or
trying to impress the cutest girl at
school for Todd losing 100 lb meant his
future it meant breaking the cycle of
abuse and poverty it was about giving
him the opportunity to be someone and
the someone he wanted to be was a United
States Army soldier with the opportunity
to serve his country in a post 911 world
world the way Todd chose to lose this
weight was by strapping on a backpack
filled with weight and walking the
Country Roads around Belair mile upon
mile a few years after Todd's death I
had the privilege of visiting Todd's
Hometown belir meeting his grandmother
the woman who raised him and he called
mom as well as a newspaper man who is
writing a story about the visit for the
local paper he told me of the legend
that was Todd Bates the boy who seemed
to walk up and down every Hill around
town all day and all night carrying that
pack on his back loaded with his much
weight as he could possibly
carry as it turned
out Todd could carry quite a bit and
left a lasting impression on everyone
who met him
this year is the 20th anniversary of
Todd's sacrifice and I think it's
appropriate to honor the way Todd lived
and to do so by picking a physical
challenge Todd would approve of a 50m
ruck
march the 50-mile ruck march has some
historical significance as president
Teddy Roosevelt in 1908 enacted the
defining duties of the United States
Marine Corps requiring all Junior
officers to complete a 50-m ruck march
as part of their annual physical fitness
standards then again in
1961 President John F Kennedy tried to
reinstate this standard by stating our
growing softness our increased lack of
physical fitness is a menace to our
security it will take me somewhere
between 18 and 20 hours to complete this
task I will start in the evening of
December 10th and walk through the night
the path will start south of Columbus
and will culminate at the Ohio Fallen
Soldiers Memorial in Sunbury Ohio
December in Ohio is cold wet and
miserable just like it was that night in
Baghdad just like it was for the next
two weeks as we walked up and down the
banks of the Tigris River hoping that by
some miracle of God we would find Todd
alive I've invited a small group of
friends who were there that night to
join me with hopes that they can each
walk at least a few miles I've also
invited one of Todd's childhood friends
Mike who happens to be a marine to join
me he's promised to walk as far as he's
physically
able I started a GoFundMe account for
this event called Todd Bates Memorial 50
Mile rock I would like to use some of
the money raised to provide hotel rooms
and meals for The Men Who travel from
out of town the rest of the money raised
will be donated to the belir big red
football team in Todd's honor depending
on how well the event goes this year I
might make it an annual thing and open
it up to the public as a way for the
community to honor our nation's
Fallen a link to the GoFundMe account
will be found in the description of this
video and I'll also pin a
comment thank you in advance for your
donations and your support may God bless
you
all