by Denise Massie
Pharos-Tribune
—
While standing at a stop sign in Lake Cicott, Mike Ehredt bent over to place a small flag carrying the name of a soldier who lost his life in Iraq.
He stood up tall and offered a salute, before marking the location on a map in his phone.
“It was emotional in the beginning,” he said. “Some days are still, especially if it’s a name I read about. I never dwell on it. If you do, it will put you in a black hole, and you won’t get out of it.”
Seeking to honor and remember members of the military who have lost their lives in Iraq, Ehredt is making a 4,514 mile journey across the United States.
“If I was just crossing America for my own selfish reasons, I would have stopped in Nebraska and said, ‘OK, that’s enough,’” he said.
“Project Run America: One Life. One Flag. One Mile,” kicked off May 1 in Astoria, Ore.
“This is a personal tribute, a silent memorial for those who have served with dignity and honor and whose sacrifice will never be forgotten,” says his website, www.projectamericarun.com.
During his journey, Ehredt is placing a flag with a yellow ribbon listing the name, rank, branch of service, age and hometown of every military member lost in the war.
As of Tuesday afternoon, he had 1,190 flags still waiting to be placed. There is a gap of about 50 miles at the end of his journey, that will allow him to include the names of any casualties recorded since he started his run.
The flags are placed in reverse chronological order by the date of death.
After the flag is placed, Ehredt said he usually thinks about the individual each flag commemorates while running the next mile.
“I’m never alone,” he said. “All of them are with me. Strange things have happened along the way that I can’t explain.”
The last flag will be placed on the shore of the Atlantic in Rockland, Maine. Ehredt expects to arrive at his final destination at 11 a.m. Oct. 15. He is looking forward to celebrating the completion of his trip with an authentic lobster boil.
“This was just personal,” he said. “I was not a voice for anyone in the country. I’m just my own voice.”
So far, Ehredt is on track to finish on schedule. His travels take him 30 miles a day. He is on his 14th pair of running shoes.
The biggest challenges he’s encountered are the weather, walking through the mountains, the changing altitudes and the tremendous wear and tear on his body.
The certified personal trainer has suffered no injuries, sickness or blisters. He’s lost only two pounds since he started.
He said placing the flags at each mile helped to keep him motivated.
“It’s a tribute, so it just seemed logical to stop at every mile,” he said. “You have to be able to identify each flag, so I put a name on them to mean something.”
He gathered the names from iraqcasualties.com, a listing he believes to be the most accurate available. The flags have always been about one thing, he said.
“It’s always been about the names and nothing else,” he said. “I’m sure it makes the families feel their loved ones are not forgotten.”
Originally from Rockfall, Ill., Ehredt now lives in Hope, Idaho. He decided to take the trip three years ago.
Preparation included writing down the information for each of the 4,417 flags. He also made arrangements for a place to stay at each of his stops.
He mapped out his journey to travel through small communities across the country.
The war has touched a diverse number of small towns in America, he said, and by traveling through a number of those towns, he hopes to create a memorial for the soldiers.
“There’s a memorial for just about everything,” he said. “I wanted to do an invisible one.”
Ehredt, a retired postal clerk and army veteran, began cycling while he was in his 20s. He cycled competitively for 12 yeas in Florida and Illinois, according to his website. In 1996, he rode 474 miles in 24 hours, raising more than $12,000 for Muscular Dystrophy.
Project America Run 2010 was never meant to be a fundraiser. However, when people started donating money, Ehredt decided to use the money to help the “Honor Our Veterans” program in its efforts to assist wounded veterans.
To date, $170,000 has been raised for the program.
Once his run is completed, Ehredt has plans to do something similar for the fallen soldiers in Afghanistan.
Ehredt has enjoyed one part of his mission more than any other.
“There hasn’t been a day that I’ve dreaded going out on the road,” he said. “Every day is different. You never know who you are going to meet or what’s going to pop up.”
• Denise Massie is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5151 or denise.massie@pharostribune.com.
On the web
To follow Mike Ehredt on his journey, make a donation or find a specific flag, visit www.projectamericarun.com
