JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Hundreds of runners hit Jacksonville Beach to honor the heroes of 9/11 Saturday morning.
Travis Manion Foundation hosted the annual run. It was one of 14 runs on Saturday happening around the country.
The organization is named after 1st Lt Travis Manion. He was killed in Iraq after his fellow marines were ambushed. Manion was killed while drawing fire away from a wounded comrade.
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The foundation’s goal is to empower veterans and families of fallen heroes to help inspire and develop character in future generations.
Michael Hoherchak helps run the Jacksonville Chapter of the Travis Manion Foundation.
He said Saturday’s run is a part of that mission.
“We’re here to honor a lot of the fallen service members and the people that died on 9/11 and 2001,” Hoherchak said.
Saturday’s run serves as a reminder of that day 23 years ago. A day Hoherchak says can’t be forgotten.
For that reason, the Travis Manion Foundation hosts an annual 5K around 9/11 to bring people together and remember that feeling.
“So it’s super important just because we don’t wanna make the same mistakes over and over,” Hoherchak said, “We really, really need to learn from those.”
But the foundation also honors the lives of those who went on to serve in the post-9/11 world.
“Events like this are tremendous,” Lance Price, a Navy veteran said. “Not just for veterans but for anyone whose life was sacrificed. So, we really support anyone who has sacrificed that fight or survivors of that fight.”
Travis Southern, like Price, is a survivor of that fight, but it didn’t come without a price.
“May 5, 2010 on my second deployment in Afghanistan,” Southern said. “I stepped on 10 pounds of homemade explosives resulting in all of this and then 2.5 years in the hospital before I medically retired to St. Augustine.”
Southern is in a wheelchair without much of his legs and his right arm. It’s a struggle he was forced to face, like many veterans are. Many of which say they feel alone.
“There’s not a replacement for that because feeling like someone forgot you is a hard feeling,” Southern said.
That’s why the Travis Manion Foundation hosted Saturday’s run. Over 350 people registered to participate, meaning hundreds gathered to show they aren’t alone.
“They may have been in the darkness,” Price said. “You just got to look out for one another and try to keep away from the darkness and look for that flickering of light and hope.”
And with the bright sunrise behind them, runners and walkers found their light.
“There’s other people going through it,” Southern said. “There’s a community that you can connect it. You don’t have to do it alone.”
Now, Southern and Price help run Still F-ing Here, a clothing brand that gives back to veteran non-profits.
“A little tongue in cheek because obviously it has the F word in it,” Southern said. “You got demons doing their thing to have that attitude ‘I don’t care how hard you try. I’m going to still F-ing be here’ was the attitude that we wanted to portray.”
And after everything, he is still here. And he said he’s here to show people that they aren’t alone.