IDAHO — The Aaron Butler Memorial Foundation's annual Purple Heart run to honor and celebrate the life of SSG Aaron Butler is Sat., Aug. 14 at 9 a.m. in Garden Valley.
“It is always a pretty amazing opportunity to talk about who my brother was and what Gold Star families go through," Adam Butler, President of the Aaron Butler Memorial Foundation and brother to Aaron Butler said. "And to be able to rub shoulders with the most patriotic and the best men and women that I have ever met.”
The Aaron Butler Memorial Foundation was started by Aaron Butler's commander in the army, Dan Nelson.
“They were both Army Green Berets in Afghanistan, and Aarron was killed in 2017," Adam said. "Dan was inspired by the way Aaron lived his life, the way he fought, and he wanted to memorialize the tenacity and fight and drive that Aaron exhibited every day.”
The Foundation puts on the Purple Heart run each year. A chance for everyone in the community to come together.
“We can all come together with the warfighting minority, combat-wounded veterans, first responders, and civilians," Adam said. "Everyone can come together and honor the sacrifice of the men and women like Aaron who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”
The run includes three different options. A 5k, 10k, or an unknown distance run that is longer than the 10k. They'll also have food, drinks and live music after as well.
“Come have fun with us! Our motto is 'Veterans not Victims,'" Adam said. "We are not here to put our heads down and cry a lot, though it happens a little bit, we are here to have fun, meet new people, make friends, make connections, and live life."
The event will also feature guest speakers from Gold Star family members and combat-wounded veterans.
“You can also expect an opportunity to pay respects to Idahoans who have fallen," Adam said. "We have a number of banners within Idahoan soldiers. We have their image on the banner and a backstory on who they are and where they were killed.”
You can still register for the run, head to https://runsignup.com/Race/ID/GardenValley/PurpleHeartRun.
For more information on Aaron Butler and his Memorial Foundation head to aaronbutlermemorialfoundation.org.
