FAYETTEVILLE — Lee Ann Seideman walked a mile with her family Saturday morning and planted a small photo of her son mounted on an American flag.
Along U.S. 71, 25 others joined in, running a total of 66 miles, one for each of Arkansas' military servicemen who've died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to their count. The group's route stretched south to Mountainburg and doubled back to its origins at Drake Field in Fayetteville.
"We want to be a part of it any time people take the time to remember," Seideman said.
Army Spc. Tyler Ross Seideman, a graduate of Lincoln High School, was a week shy of his 21st birthday when he and 13 other U.S. soldiers died Aug. 22, 2007, when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Multaka, Iraq, because of a mechanical problem.
Exactly two years after her son's death, Lee Ann Seideman laced up her running shoes and took to the road to remember. She ran alongside her husband, Bill, daughters, Kiera and Kristen, and Logan Biswell, her son's best friend who joined the Army alongside him shortly after the two graduated from high school.
The event, called Arkansas Run for the Fallen, was one of a series of statewide events held across the country over the weekend to pay tribute to the nation's war dead. The smaller events mimic a nationwide event held last year.
On June 14, 2008, a team ran from Fort Irwin, Calif., to Arlington National Cemetery, one mile for every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine killed in the war in Iraq, marking each of the more than 4,000 miles with an American flag and a photo of a fallen service member on the 10-week run.
The national group compiled the numbers, including the 66 tally from Arkansas, from various news reports. An unofficial tally by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has determined that 77 soldiers with Arkansas roots have died in the United States' wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - 70 in Iraq and seven in Afghanistan. Sixty resulted from enemy fire, 16 deaths occurred as a result of non-combat situations and one was due to friendly fire.
Fayetteville resident Janet Stockton Taylor, who helped organize Saturday's event said "It was such an honor to be able to put those miles in. You really feel the impact of what you'redoing."
Taylor and a group of friends ran 16 miles through Missouri in 2008. The nationwide span created a visual impact to reflect the loss of life, she said.
"You're reflecting on that person and who they are and what they gave for their country," Taylor said. "They gave all, and they're not the only one."
Before Saturday's run, a group of volunteers and military family stood in silence while Taylor read a list of the people they'd come to honor.
Erin Pettay of Rogers ran in honor of her brother-in-law, Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Woodham of the Arkansas Army National Guard, who died July 5 at Camp Adder in Tallil, Iraq.
Woodham, 37, became the first casualty of Arkansas' 39th Infantry Brigade's second deployment to Iraq in a non-combat accident while working on a humvee. He was the motor sergeant for Delta Company, 1st Squadron, 151 Cavalry Regiment.
The family now pays more attention to yellow ribbons on vehicles and events held in honor of soldiers, Pettay said.
"It's definitely made us more aware," she said. "Memorial Day means something to us now."
Seideman, the mother of the Lincoln soldier, meets once a year with the mothers of the 13 others who died in the helicopter crash.
She recently visited her son's marker in last year's nationwide run, mile 3,721, a scenic stretch of State Highway 250 in northern Virginia, after the woman who ran the mile last year called her to discuss the family's sacrifice.
The trip inspired Seideman to run, she said.
Across the globe in Iraq, the remaining men in Spc. Seideman's company, the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, ran five laps around their base Saturday morning to honor the men they'd lost.
"He would love this," Lee Ann Seideman said.
Arkansas, Pages 17 on 08/23/2009