Ruckers adapt and overcome to conditions for 3rd annual USMC Sgt. Mecot Camara Memorial Ruck

HINTON, WV (WVNS) – The American Brother Foundation, which is headed up by Elisa Camara, hosted a Memorial ruck for a local hero at Bluestone State Park.

The ruck originally began to honor her older brother who lost his life due to the Beirut Bombings in Lebanon in 1983. This is the third year running that they have held the USMC Sergeant Mecot Camara Memorial Ruck Weekend.  But what exactly is a ruck?

“We are doing a ten-mile ruck, which is like, in the military, it is a forced march. So, people are rucking [or] hiking ten miles and they are carrying the names of the fallen with them, or somebody that they want to remember that they have lost in their life,” said Elisa Camara.

This year’s memorial ruck did not come without its challenges. Elisa Camara, the sister of Marine Corps Sergeant Mecot Camara explained that the ruck normally takes place on the last weekend of September.

“Normally we do it along the river, but the river is flooded. So, we took [to] higher ground. As they say in the military, ‘You adapt. You adjust. You overcome.’ So, we have overcome some pretty big obstacles this year. As one of the guys [here] said, ‘We will go around a merry-go-round a thousand times to honor the people that did not come home,” said Camara.

She told 59News that the memorial ruck weekend will go back to taking place over the last weekend in September.

The fee to participate in this event was $25. Camara said that this money goes to the American Brother Foundation, her non-profit organization.

“We are a foundation that was created in honor of my brother and we service veterans in need and we provide scholarships for children in military families,” said Camara.

The other events that make up the memorial ruck weekend include a Friday Night Spaghetti Dinner and Auction, as well as a Sunday morning breakfast at Kirk’s Restaurant.

You can find out more information by visiting their website.

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