Nebraska Air Guardsman carried unit flag with her during overseas marathon

  • Published
  • By Maj. Kevin Hynes
  • Nebraska National Guard
A year after competing as a member of the Nebraska Air National Guard's Bataan Death March Marathon team, Senior Airman Riki Foos took her love of competition and unit pride a step further when she competed in a similar race at Al Udeid, Qatar. 

Competing in a local Bataan Death March Marathon, Foos carried her 155th Civil Engineering Squadron flag with her every step of the way.
In an e-mail to friends back at the 155th CES, Foos said she had a pretty simple goal for the race. 

"My goal was to do it (in) the same or less time than the NEANG team that went last year," she wrote. "So I finished in 5:45." 

The Bataan Death March Marathon is an annual event held in New Mexico and is designed to honor the sacrifices that U.S. servicemen and their Filipino allies made in 1942 after surrendering to the Japanese during World War II. 

According to Foos, the Qatar race began at about 4 a.m. In order to make the event extra special, Foos said she decided to pack along her squadron flag. 

"I carried the 155th CES flag with me the whole time (covered so I wouldn't get it sweaty,)" she wrote. "This base really doesn't have anything cool as far as taking a picture with it, so I decided to carry it instead." 

Foos is an emergency management specialist assigned to the 155th CES. She is performing a similar mission overseas.