Valor Run: Valor Knows No Gender

🚨 Valor Run Scholarship – Apply Now! 🚨

The Valor Run Scholarship is a postsecondary education award created to honor the legacy of women who have served in the U.S. military. This scholarship supports dependent children of women veterans who deployed abroad while assigned, attached, or mobilized to a unit participating in:

🇺🇸 Operations:
✅ Iraqi Freedom (3/20/03 - 8/31/10)
✅ Enduring Freedom (10/7/01 - 12/28/14)
✅ New Dawn (9/1/10 - 12/15/11)
✅ Freedom’s Sentinel (1/1/15 - 8/30/21)
✅ Inherent Resolve (6/15/2014 - present)

💰 Scholarship Details:
✔️ Up to two $5,000 awards granted each year
✔️ One-time award, but recipients may reapply annually
✔️ Funds can be used for any educational need

📌 Who is NOT eligible?
❌ Students attending a service academy or receiving a full-tuition scholarship (including ROTC)

✅ Students using the Post-9/11 GI Bill are eligible!

📅 Application Deadline: June 15, 2025

📢 Apply today: www.valorrun.org/scholarship

Help us spread the word! 📢 Tag someone who might be eligible.

Today we remember...

Master Sergeant Tara R. Brown, USAF
from Deltona, FL, age 33
Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Joint Base Andrews, MD
Died: 27 Apr 11, at the Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan

MSgt Brown died of wounds suffered when an Afghan pilot opened fire in a training room, killing eight airmen. She was training Afghan airmen on network and computer skills. Brown was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

Today we remember...

Petty Officer 1st Class Cherie L. Morton, USN
from Bakersfield, CA, age 40
Naval Security Force, Naval Support Activity Bahrain
Died: 20 Apr 08, Galali, Muharraq, Bahrain

PO1 Morton died of a non-combat related cause. She was a career counselor who helped many sailors. Morton was known as “Ree” by her friends and is survived by her son.

Today we remember...

Private First Class Sam W. Huff, USA
from Tucson, AZ, age 18
170th Military Police Company, 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, Fort Lewis, WA
Died: 18 Apr 05 in Baghdad, Iraq

PFC Huff died of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near her HMMWV. In high school, Huff was the drum major and conductor. Before joining the Army, she had signed a contract to model and often joked about what she could have been doing instead of wearing a combat uniform in the desert.

Today we remember...

Seaman Katrina R. Grady, USN
from Greenville, MS, age 29
USS Port Royal deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: 18 Apr 02, Bethesda Naval Hospital, MD

SN Grady died from a non-combat related illness after being medically evacuated from the USS PORT ROYAL, deployed in support of OEF.

Today we remember...

Sergeant Linda L. Pierre, USA
from Immokalee, FL, age 28
101st Special Troops Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, KY
Died: 16 Apr 11, at Forward Operating Base Gamberi, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.

SGT Pierre died of wounds suffered when an Afghan National Army soldier detonated a su***de vest at a meeting. She was a human resource specialist. Pierre is survived by her parents.

Today we remember...

Staff Sergeant Cynthia R. Taylor, USA
from Columbus, GA, age 39
101st Special Troops Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, KY
Died: 16 Apr 11, at Forward Operating Base Gamberi, Nangarhar province.

SSG Taylor died of wounds suffered when an Afghan National Army soldier detonated a su***de vest at a meeting. Taylor was a vehicle mechanic and is survived by a son and daughter.

Today we remember...

Specialist Aleina Ramirez Gonzalez, USA
Hormigueros, PR, age 33
3rd Brigade Troop Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA
Died: 15 Apr 05 in Tikrit, Iraq

SPC Ramirez Gonzalez, originally from Puerto Rico, died in a mortar strike on her forward operating base. She grew up watching her father serve in the military and she had previously served in the National Guard.

Today we remember...

Specialist Michelle M. Witmer, WI ARNG
from New Berlin, WI, age 20
32nd Military Police Company, Wisconsin Army National Guard
Died: 9 Apr 04, Baghdad, Iraq
SPC Witmer died when the vehicle in which she was riding came under attack by small arms fire and an improvised explosive device. She had two sisters and two brothers. Witmer’s twin sister Charity and older sister were all serving in Iraq at the time of her death. Charity remembers Witmer as a “klutz who loved candy.”

Today we remember...

Lance Corporal Juana Navarro Arellano, USMC
from Ceres, CA, age 24
9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan
Died: 8 Apr 06 in Al Anbar province, Iraq

LCpl Navaro Arellano, a bulk fuel specialist, died from wounds sustained while supporting combat operations. She was born in Mexico, but grew up in California and became a citizen at age 13. She was one of six children raised by a single mother. Navarro Arellano attended Peter Johansen High School in Modesto.

Today we remember...

Specialist Tyanna S. Avery-Felder, USA
from Bridgeport, CT, age 22
296th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, WA
Died: 7 Apr 04, Balad, Iraq

SPC Felder died as a result of injuries sustained on April 4 in Mosul when her convoy vehicle was hit with an improvised explosive device. She graduated from Kolbe Catholic High School in Bridgeport, CT where she played basketball and sang in the choir. She took classes at Southern Connecticut State University towards a degree in early childhood education before deciding to join the Army. Avery married Army SPC Adrian Felder in 2002. She deployed less than a year after they married.

Today we remember...

Sergeant Major Barbaralien Banks, USA
from Harvey, LA, age 41
Division Artillery, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, HI
Died 6 Apr 05, Ghanzi, Afghanistan

SGM Banks died when the CH-47 helicopter she was on with 17 others crashed in a sandstorm south of Kabul. Banks was a food management supervisor. She was the oldest of 5 siblings and joined the army in 1988. Her sister also served in the Army and another sibling served in the Marine Corps. She was survived by two grown children and three grandchildren.