--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Man aims to run 65 miles for sake of veterans
By MELISSA HAYES Burlington County Times
MOUNT LAUREL William Dennis Brown Jr. knows how to make a statement.
On May 3, the 30-year-old former Navy SEAL will run 65 miles from Rutgers
University's campus in Camden to the school's campus in New Brunswick with a
classmate to raise awareness and funds for veterans education.
Brown is vice president and co-founder of Veterans for Education, a
student organization at Rutgers-Camden that has created a scholarship fund
for veterans and active military members.
While the campus-to-campus trek is a fundraiser for the scholarship fund,
Brown said it's more about making a statement to legislators that funding
college educations for veterans should be a priority.
We really believe in education, he said. We really believe men and
women who risk their lives serving our country really deserve the
opportunity an education provides.
Brown is a combat veteran who served in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad,
Najaf, Basra and Al-Nasaria in 2004 and 2005. His classmate and May 3
running partner, Efren Cazales of Bridgeton, served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005
in the Army's 25th Infantry Division.
Brown said the GI Bill, which provides educational funding to veterans,
barely covers 50 percent of his tuition at Rutgers. However, members of the
National Guard receive free college educations, he said.
Brown's student organization is calling on legislators to support new
legislation introduced in both houses of Congress last year that would
upgrade the GI Bill.
Brown said he hopes the 13-hour run up Route 130 will send a message to
Washington, D.C., and Trenton, where similar state legislation has been
proposed.
We want the politicians to do the right thing, he said.
Brown and Cazales have been training for months. Brown runs daily and
spends five hours on 30-mile runs on the weekends to prepare for the
challenge.
So far, they have raised $5,000 for the scholarship fund. Their goal is
to raise $50,000 so it will become endowed and can be awarded annually to
one veteran and one active-duty military member.
We've made sacrifices for this country, Brown said. It breaks our
hearts when we see veterans homeless. Things need to change.
At 9 a.m. on the day of the run, area politicians who support the
proposed legislation, known as the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance
Act, will speak outside the college library in Camden.
The run will begin around 10 a.m. and will conclude in New Brunswick at
the historic statue of William the Silent.
We don't want to be silent, Brown said. We know we have a tough road
to climb to get the education benefit veterans deserve.
To make a donation, visit the Web site at http://veterans4education.org/.
E-mail: mhayes@phillyBurbs.com
April 21, 2008 6:08 AM
|
