Joshua Kirk to be remembered at Boston
Marathon
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February 27, 2014 |
 Megan
Gavin-Kirk, the wife of Sergeant Joshua Kirk,
Bonners Ferry, who laid down his life while
serving in Afghanistan in 2009, is dedicating
her third Boston Marathon to her late husband's
memory and working to raise funds for the Maine
Run for the Fallen.
"This upcoming Boston Marathon means even more
to me than the past two for a few reasons,"
Megan said. "I was running last year when the
bombings happened and my family was very close
by. Knowing I could have lost my family as I
lost my husband to terrorists is very sobering.
We will not be kept down, I will continue to run
Boston as long as I possibly can."
She recently came across a list of life goals
Joshua had written before he died with seven
other American soldiers defending Camp Keating,
a remote outpost near the Pakistani border, from
an overwhelming attack by insurgents on October
9, 2009, a battle memorialized in the book "The
Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor" by
journalist Jake Tapper.
Two soldiers who survived the Battle of Kamdesh,
staff sergeants Clint Romesha and Ty Carter,
Spokane, were bestowed the nations highest award
for valor in combat, the Medal of Honor, for
their actions during the day-long fight.
One of the goals he'd written down was to run
the Boston Marathon, a goal Megan didn't realize
he'd set until after she'd already completed
two.
"So as you can see Boston has an even greater
meaning for me," she said.
While she's running to raise funds for the Maine
chapter of Run for the Fallen, the event has
close ties to Bonners Ferry. His mother,
Bernadette Kirk-Bonner, and sister Jessica
Tingley, both of Bonners Ferry, ran in the Maine
event not long after his death, and received
support from organizers of the Maine Run for the
Fallen when they both helped organize Idaho's
first Run for the Fallen in Bonners Ferry August
20, 2011.
Joshua was born in Maine before the family moved
to Boundary County, and he'd moved back to
attend college before enlisting in the Army not
long after the 9/11 attacks.
Megan will run the Boston Marathon April 21 and
her goal is to raise $5,000. Those who'd like to
contribute in Joshua's memory and honor can make
their pledge by visiting her page on the
Crowdwise website. |
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