KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --
A six-member team from Kirtland Air Force Base completed the Bataan Memorial Death March on March 20.
The march is an annual event that honors Bataan Survivors with a 26.2-mile course hosted at White Sands Missile Range.
The team, led by Wing Staff Agencies resource adviser 2nd Lt. Christian Erneston, practiced on weekends, giving the team a chance to bond as a group as well as to encourage each other.
For Erneston and 377th Comptroller Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Tracy Bell, it was the second time to compete.
This year was the first time for Senior Airman David Rodriguez, 377th Air Base Wing staff judge advocate Lt. Col. Kevin Ingram and his wife, Tiffini.
"I made some improvements on how we trained for this year," Erneston said.
The changes involved training in the Sandias as well as in the bosque. Last year, Erneston said, he and the team mainly trained in the bosque and the elevation changes of the course hurt them overall.
"The training was perhaps the best part of the entire experience for me: laughing, talking and hanging out as a team," Lt. Col. Ingram said.
"I felt prepared for how tough the march was going to be," Tiffini said.
Tiffini said the march was not as difficult as she expected. She had read "horror" stories and had formed a mental image worse than the march actually was.
Tiffini's rucksack for the civilian heavy category weighed more than 50 pounds. She came in seventh for her age category and 33rd overall for women, with a time of nine hours and four minutes.
Getting to socialize with other participants along the course was an agreed team favorite to help pass the time.
"The best part of the march for me was seeing all the wounded warriors competing," said Lt. Col. Ingram.
Tiffini agreed and said she felt inspired when she saw a woman who had been injured in combat and had an above-the-knee amputation on the course.
Ingram said he is thankful for the people in the military before him, and the sacrifices they had to make. "This event is a great way to honor them," Ingram said.
Team members said the march is emotional starting at the opening ceremony to crossing the finish line.
"I was in tears when I crossed the finish line, half was pain and half was pride," Rodriguez said. "It was an honor to do it, going through not even half of what (Bataan Death March survivors) did."
Bell agreed.
"Crossing the finish line, the most obvious emotion I felt was relief, but also a sense of accomplishment mixed with delirium," Bell said.
The team members said they are looking forward to competing in the march again. They also agreed that their goal for next year is to complete the march with faster times.
The memorial march is to honor approximately 75,000 troops captured by Japanese forces on April 9, 1942. The troops were then forced to march 65 miles to a prisoner of war camp over the next five days while being starved and beaten. It is estimated that thousands of troops died on the march.