BOONE—In addition to preparing for fall classes at Appalachian State University, Assistant Professor Trevor Stewart has been training for a 100-mile run in honor of Captain Tyler B. Swisher who was killed in Iraq. Stewart and Swisher served together on presidential guard duty at Marine Security Company, Camp David.

Swisher’s wife, Stephanie, earned a master’s degree from Appalachian in 2010, and their daughter is a student at Appalachian.

The run is organized by the group Always Brothers, whose mission is to serve veterans and their families with honor and integrity. To learn more about Always Brothers, visit www.alwaysbrothers.org.

Stewart is a member of the faculty in the Reich College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Professor Joe Murphy and practitioner-in residence Jeff Goodman, also from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, are producing a video about the run.

Swisher was killed in Iraq in 2005 when his vehicle was struck by an IED while conducting combat operations in Al Amariyah, Iraq Oct. 21, 2005. In addition to his wife, he is survived by three children: Ashleigh, Madison and Jacob, who are residents of Boone

Twelve current and former members of the U.S. Marines will participate in the run to raise funds for the education of Tyler Swisher’s children and to benefit Operation Gift Cards, a non-profit organization that distributes gift cards to recovering warriors at Bethesda and Walter Reed Hospitals.

The run begins Aug. 11 in Thurmont, Md., and follows a route through the countryside of Maryland and Virginia into the District of Columbia. The Marines will stop briefly at Marine Barracks Washington, known as “8^th & I,” where they will be joined by a contingent of Marines to finish the remaining five-miles to Arlington National Cemetery, Section 60, Site 8254. Their goal is to arrive at Swisher’s graveside at 8 a.m. Aug. 12 where they will hold brief ceremony honoring him.

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