Roanoke Valley hosted ‘Resolve to Win’ Marchers on their way to Washington

Halifax County was the local stop for three Iraq veterans who are on their way to Washington DC to show their ‘Resolve to Win’.  Although all three of them qualify to join AARP, they have just returned from active duty in the war zone.  Their goal is to bring attention to what they feel is the need for Americans to stand up and show their ‘Resolve to Win’ the Iraqi Freedom war. 

Major Dennis McCool, Lieutenant Colonel Marc Breslow and Major Carl Heerup have no problem showing their own ‘Resolve to Win’. Their mission is to provide a platform and focal point event for all Americans to show their support for our troops and military personnel.  Their purpose for walking is to make all Americans aware that our nation needs to improve our ‘Resolve to Win’ and finish a very difficult task while understanding the strategic importance of winning in Iraq.

They stopped for the night in Halifax County at the Halifax Education Building just south of the city of Halifax.  They were greeted, in the rain, by Charles Chambliss, assistant superintendent Halifax County Schools, Gerald Wright, mayor of Halifax and special supporter veteran Jack Pittman who has been awarded three Purple Hearts (Omaha Beach, Battle of the Bulge, Russian Front) & his wife with other supporters and well wishers.

Roanoke Valley supporters were great hosts as American Legion Post #38 (Weldon, NC) hosted a Friday night meal at Ralph’s Barbeque and provided lodging.  Saturday  morning  Corporal Trey Fortson and  Staff Sergeant  Darrick McGee of the Roanoke Rapids  US Army Recruiting  Office  were “day marchers” with the team on their way from Halifax to just South  of Emporia, VA.  Hopefully the 30 mph plus crosswinds on Saturday were more at the marchers’ back to make up for Friday & Saturday morning’s heavy rains.

Cheering supporters on Saturday from Littleton were Dwayne & Ann Ellis whose two older sons are both stationed in Iraq.  The ‘Resolve to Win’ blog stated that the Ellis family felt strongly that supporting victory is essential to supporting the troops.  The Ellis’s provided a big Hoorah of support on a tough windy marching day. 

The “Resolve To Win” pilgrimage started at “South of the Border” located on the North/South Carolina border on March 1 and will cover 400 miles when the marchers arrive in Washington DC on Sunday March 16.  The journey will cover approximately 26 miles each day, the distance of a marathon, prior to the 10 mile jaunt over the Memorial Bridge and onto the National Mall for the completion of the rally.

The men travel at 3 mph with a short rest break every 6 miles.  They have a small support group and generally local law enforcement for traffic control. A 400 mile, 16 day march by any soldier would be an accomplishment.   What makes the ‘Resolve to Win’ event, special is the combination of the ages, military career accomplishments and individual beliefs of the participants. 

All three major “core participants” came out of retirement to volunteer for Operation Iraqi Freedom duty after having served their country with long distinguished military careers.  All three just recently finished their tour of Iraq duty and only returned to their homes within the last 3 months. The Iraqi environment and these soldier’s war experiences are not a distant memory. 

The ‘Resolve to Win’ march was the brainchild of McCool who is 60 years young. In his original 20 year military career, he served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division.  Breslow served 26 years with tours in Special Ops and the Airborne Division.  He has served in three combat zones: Bosnia, Lebanon, and Desert Storm before retiring in 2000. 

After 9/11 Breslow believed his 26 years of service to his country was not enough personal sacrifice to “protect his homeland”.  He felt compelled to “stand up” and accept a new responsibility even though he was 55 years young.  He wanted to make sure he did all in his power to keep the “fight” on the enemy’s home front.

Major Carl Heerup, served in the Army and Army Reserves retiring in 2003.  He volunteered to serve in Iraq in 2006 as his engineering skills lead to a position of Construction Specialist, which was needed to help the Iraqi’s rebuild their country.  Major Heerup’s son (Civil Affairs/Iraq) and son-in-law (medic/Afghanistan) have served their country in our current conflicts.

The ‘Resolve to Win’ slogan comes from McCool’s father who spent his life in the Navy, veteran of WW II, Korean War, and 3 tours of duty in Vietnam.  Major McCool’s son served a tour of duty in the Middle East shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01.

When asked for a statement, all three former officers agreed “We have just recently returned from active duty in Iraq and we strongly believe the recent troop ‘surge’ is working as planned” 

The surge provided a military build-up with more ground support to achieve strategic initiatives in Baghdad and Al Anbar provinces.  The goal is to reduce sectarian violence and al-Qaeda terrorist efforts.  “Americans are not aware of the multi-national forces day-to-day success in Iraq.”  The men stated.

They feel the American public must be reminded and must remember our losses in previous conflicts to understand that. They stated Americans  need to provide the necessary sacrifices and resolve to do whatever it takes to win the conflict in Iraq.

‘Resolve to Win’ reminds us that almost 4000 brave troops have sacrificed their lives and countless soldiers have been seriously wounded.  These sacrifices represent the troops resolve and now Americans must provide the necessary resolve to protect our lifestyle and American way of life.

In closing, Major McCool was still providing his input on the current situation that he experienced first hand less than 3 months ago, “since the surge, we are achieving many goals in Iraq and we need to continue our support for the Iraq citizens as well as our troops.  The troops can see victory is not a fairytale and is very much an achievable short term goal, (short term was not defined).  Americans from all over the country must stand up, be heard and make sure that our leadership demonstrates the same fortitude as our troops in their “Resolve To Win.”

We will be tracking the march and will report back next week on how their message was delivered in Washington.