Runners remember Christiansburg fallen soldier

Runners remember Christiansburg fallen soldier (Added: August 12, 2008)

It just so happens on the day "Run for the Fallen" stops in Christiansburg, the town is mourning the loss one of its own. (more)

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Runners remember Christiansburg fallen soldier

It just so happens on the day "Run for the Fallen" stops in Christiansburg, the town is mourning the loss one of its own.

By: WSLS-TV Staff Reports | WSLS
Published: August 12, 2008

With an American flag in hand, John Bellona has made his way across country on foot.
"We've run 35 hundred miles for 35 hundred service members killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Bellona, who’s the director and founder of “Run for the Fallen.”
It just so happens on the day the group stops in Christiansburg, the town is mourning the loss one of its own.
Sergeant Kenneth Gibson, 25, was killed Sunday by an IED.
A Christiansburg High School graduate and member of his high school baseball team, Gibson joined the army in 2002.
It's a loss with which Debi and Rick Linck are very familiar.
"My son liked what he was doing. He was making a career out of the army," Rick Linck said.
Staff Sergeant Henry Linck was killed less than two years ago in Iraq.
Tuesday, as one of the runners took a break, they were waiting to say thank you.
"Saying we honor them, and having someone actually do it means the ultimate for us," Debi Linck said.
"It just seems like everybody forgets, but these people have made it a point not to forget the fallen," Rick Linck said.
The runners place a flag at every mile for a soldier we’ve lost.
Tuesday, using a marker and some tape, John wrote a special name card and hung it on one of the flags downtown.
As the Linck’s salute the makeshift memorial, the runners get back on the road.
The last mile of the day is for Sergeant Kenneth Gibson.