Green Bay Sailors and Marines Complete the Jerabek Memorial Challenge Run at Sea
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Larry S. Carlson, USS Green Bay (LPD 20) Public Affairs
INDIAN OCEAN - Sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD 20) hosted a run Aug. 20 in conjunction with an annual event in Wisconsin designed to commemorate a fallen Marine.
The Pfc. Ryan Jerabek Memorial Challenge is an annual run hosted in Hobart, Wis.,the hometown of Jerabek who was killed in action in Ramadi, Iraq on April 6, 2004.
As part of Green Bay's ties to the state of Wisconsin, Jerabek is one of several fallen heroes from the state memorialized in the ship's main passageway, referred to by the crew as the "Hall of Heroes."
Green Bay Sailors and embarked Marines have done a yearly companion run to the Jerabek Challenge, and while at sea on their maiden deployment, did not want to miss this year’s event, so an underway run was conducted on the ship’s flight deck.
Some 190 Green Bay Sailors and Marines ran 44 laps around the flight deck to match the 4-mile distance of runners in Wisconsin on the morning of Aug. 20.
Ens. Tim Mahoney, a native of Green Bay, Wis., has stayed in contact with the Jerabek family and helped coordinate the run on board Green Bay over the past two years.
“USS Green Bay has been active in this event for the past several years, and remains in close connection with Ryan's family. We are honored to be able to participate once again this year,” said Mahoney.
Green Bay, as part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, and 13th MEU are underway in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations during its maiden Western Pacific deployment.