On August 13, the fifth annual Major McLung Memorial 5K and 10K Runs will be held at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. The race commemorates the life of United States Marine Corps Major Megan McClung.

Major McClung was a 1995 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and she was killed in Ramadi, Iraq on December 6, 2006 when her vehicle struck an IED after a day of escorting Fox and Newsweek reporters around the city.  She was the first female USMC officer killed in combat in the war, and because she was an extraordinary runner and triathlete –even organizing a marathon in Iraq to coincide with the running of the annual Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C.–  Major McClung’s parents, Michael and Re, and the Marines of Whidbey Island established the run to commemorate her life and raise funds for the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund (www.semperfifund.org).  

Fully 4,454 Americans have been killed in Iraq and 1,595 in Afghanistan since in the nearly ten years since the attack on America on 9/11.  Tens of thousands more have been seriously wounded, and Major McClung’s parents explained to me on Friday’s radio show that raising funds to help these wounded heroes is the best tribute they can offer their amazing daughter.  The Semper Fi Fund has raised just under $50 million in seven years, which has gone to more than 6,000 Marines, sailors and members of the other military branches who were wounded while serving with the Marines.