THANK YOU!
Ruck Forward 2024 was a huge success! Click the link below to view photos from the event.
RUCK FORWARD 2024
12 YEARS IN MEMORY OF SFC RILEY STEPHENS (KIA 9/28/12)
22K & 5K RUCK / WALK
Proceeds will provide Trade School Scholarships, support the Granbury High School’s Marine Corps JROTC program, and serve veterans.
WHAT IS RUCK FORWARD?
Ruck Forward is an annual event that is open to the public. It is a family friendly 22k and 5k ruck walk through Granbury, Texas, to remember our local hero and warrior, SFC Riley Stephens (KIA 9/28/2012). In addition, it remembers and brings awareness to all fallen heroes and the 22+ veterans a day lost to suicide.
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Listen to the legacy of Riley Stephens told by his father, Mick Stephens
APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY
“I’ve had the pleasure of serving with several Texans, and they were all born fighters. It must be something in the water down there.” — Major Rusty Bradley, Author Lions of Kandahar.
Sergeant First Class Riley Stephens was raised in the sleepy farming town of Tolar, Texas about 45 minutes south of Ft. Worth. Places like Tolar are only further proof that some of our nation’s most elite warriors come from those towns barely discernible on a map, places that we might mention with the inevitable follow up question, “Where is that?” Six deployments, a litany of schools, and a legendary Special Operations career as a Special Forces Medical Sergeant. Sergeant First Class Riley Stephens, a true legend of the Special Operations community, some of his life depicted in the epic novel “Lions of Kandahar.”
SFC Stephens took his last stand on September 28, 2012 providing covering fire for his unit in Wardak Province, Afghanistan. All of the words about Riley and an incredible career as a Special Forces Medical Sergeant pale in comparison though, to the memories of a father who witnessed his son’s first steps and supported him through his most painful tribulations as a Special Operations warrior. Mick Stephens might’ve been Riley’s father, but he was also his closest friend and on that day in September, Mick experienced one of the greatest tragedies that can possibly befall a father, he lost his first born.
A HERO’S WELCOME
By Matt Smith | Oct 9, 2012
Several hundred stood silently, dozens of wind-flapped American flags providing the only sound Saturday morning at Cleburne Regional Airport as honor guard soldiers transferred Army Sgt. 1st Class Riley Stephens’ casket from a just-landed jet to a white hearse.
Stephens, 39, of Tolar was killed Sept. 28 in Afghanistan during a gun battle.
The plane carrying his body landed in Cleburne at about 11:20 a.m. Residents from Cleburne, Johnson County and beyond began arriving several hours before, some carrying flags, others simply wishing to be on hand to pay respect as Stephens’ body arrived. Members of Stephens’ family arrived about 45 minutes before his plane touched down.
“It was very moving,” Cleburne Councilwoman Gayle White said. “The entire crowd, including the children who had been running and playing, became very still and quiet as eyes focused on the aircraft when it came into sight. Only the sound of the flags, wind, birds and the shuffle of soldiers’ boots could be heard as they carried Sgt. Stephens to the waiting hearse.
“We all were joined as one with his family. It brought home to us how quickly things change and how thankful we are for someone standing in the gap for our freedom. God bless our service men and women everywhere.”
Representatives from the Cleburne Police Department and the Hood County Sheriff’s Office were also on hand as were firefighters from Tolar, Cleburne, Alvarado and Bono. The Patriot Guard Riders arrived early Saturday morning and dozens of their motorcycles lined the parking lot of the airport’s flight school building.
Stephens was on his fifth deployment at the time of his death. Stephens died in the Wardak Province of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire, according to a U.S. Department of Defense release.
Stephens was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, according to the same release.
A contingent of Patriot Guard Riders motorcycles, fire trucks and law enforcement vehicles escorted the procession of Stephens’ hearse and vehicles out of Cleburne with several continuing on to lead the procession to Tolar where Stephens’ funeral services were held Sunday at Tolar Baptist Church.
Patriot Guard Riders were also on hand Sunday to escort Stephens to the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery for interment.
Burleson residents Wynne and Larry Loveless, who were at the airport Saturday morning, also joined others to line the Campus Drive bridge over Interstate 20 in south Fort Worth Sunday afternoon as Stephens’ procession passed.
“I’ve seen a lot of things, but this was one of the most amazing and emotional moments I’ve ever seen,” Wynne Loveless said. “I was very pleased to see so many show up [in Cleburne and Fort Worth] to show their respect for Sgt. Stephens and his family. This is what America is all about.”
