The mission to honor the fallen is personal for one soldier-led foundation.
Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael “Mike” Gomolka and his wife, Samantha, have spent the last seven years remembering Special Operations soldiers who have been killed in action since Sept. 11, 2001. Their nonprofit, Project 33 Memorial Foundation, organizes a 6.8 mile run annually to highlight the story – and name – of those who have sacrificed their lives in service to the nation. This year’s honoree is Army Sgt. First Class Marcus V. Muralles.
Marcus enlisted in the Army in 1988 as an infantryman, according to the foundation’s website. After his contract, he left the military and was visiting family in Guatemala where his initial plan derailed after meeting his future wife.
“He was supposed to be a doctor. His dad was living in Guatemala at the time and told him he was going to pay for his college. Then he fell in love with me,” Diana Muralles told Reserve + National Guard Magazine. “His dad then said, ‘well, if you marry, I’m not going to be able to support you.’ So he decided to come to Indiana and work in a factory.”
The couple married in 1993, and a year later Diana arrived in the U.S. to join Marcus in Shelbyville, Indiana. Their daughter, Anna, was born in 1995. Marcus reenlisted three years later and moved the family to Fort Benning, Georgia, to be part of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). His deployments with the regiment included combat jumps into both Afghanistan and Iraq.
That’s where Marcus first met Mike.
“I met Marcus before the war. We were assigned to the same company … and he was the senior medic,” Mike said. “In Ranger Regiment, there’s a very unique hierarchy, but Marcus was different because he was a medic. He would make it his job to know everyone and learn about them, because he was going to be the one that was going to save your life. At the same time, he wanted you to be able to feel comfortable enough to approach him with any problems you had.”
In 2001, the Muralleses had their son, Dominic. After the attacks of Sept. 11, Marcus was deployed overseas alongside Mike.
“When I took this project on – honoring Marcus this year – I had no idea that he was with me on a lot of my missions until I started doing the research,” Mike said. “I started looking back at photos, and Marcus and I were on the USS Kitty Hawk together the night we invaded Afghanistan. That photo was incredibly special because that night he treated two guys in my squad that were killed; Kris Stonesifer and Jonn Edmunds. They were our first two honorees for Project 33. I had no idea he was even there that night, but looking back at the picture, I see him up in the top right corner.”
Mike adds that Marcus “was always a very approachable person.”
“The company relied heavily on him. He was such an easy person to get along with that I couldn’t believe half the time I didn’t even realize he was next to me, doing his job. And it’s just wild to me when I think about it,” he said.
In 2005, Marcus was killed during the attempted rescue mission of a SEAL team on June 28, 2005, in eastern Afghanistan where he was serving as a Special Operations Flight Medic. The rescue is now known as Operation Red Wings and was depicted in the 2013 movie, “The Lone Survivor.”
Project 33 does not raise funds for itself, rather they donate the funds from the year’s campaign to a nonprofit of the family’s choice. Marcus’s family chose to donate to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, an organization that provides college scholarships and educational counseling to the surviving children of U.S. Special Operations personnel killed in the line of duty. Marcus’s two children were recipients of the foundation college scholarships, and Diana wanted to give back.
Project 33’s annual event will take place on Monday, May 27 in three different ways. The main run will be in Hamburg, New York, where participants will run 6.8 miles from Hamburg Town Park and Beach to Hamburg Brewing Company. Unlike other runs, this will not be a race. All participants must run behind the runner holding the American flag.
“There is only one rule to run with Project 33, the American flag represents the fallen and no runner shall pass the flag,” Samatha said. “The last four years, we’ve actually been honored to host the Gold Star families. Typically the last 100 yards, we will transition the American flag to the children of the Gold Star family, and they run it into the brewery where we have the Patriot Guard riders, members from the VFW and the entire community lined up with flags cheering them in.”
There will also be an organized run happening on the same day at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. For those who can’t attend either, or those who want to run at their own distance and pace, there is a virtual option.
For more information about the race and Project 33, click here.
This article is written by Hannah Lee.