CARRIE HILL PHOTOGRAPHY
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less. Swisher had been killed in
action in Iraq in 2005, but in the
early 90s, Swisher and Smith had
both served at Camp David together. Smith did not discover that
his friend, the cocky, “poster boy
marine” had been killed until 2010.
After coming back from that marathon and sitting in front of his computer, staring down his Facebook,
he called on his marine brothers to
help him with an idea.
“We all talk smack to each other
usually. But this was more of a like,
‘hey guys, this is what I just did.”
He says. “Our idea for a reunion is
going 100 miles,” he laughs quietly.
Half of the men who participated in the first run had served
with Smith but didn’t even know
Tyler. Smith was the link between
them, but he maintains that in the
mindset of a marine, personally
knowing a fellow brother or not at
all is irrelevant.
“The day after 9/11, how everyone was looking out for each other
and nice to each other, that’s the
feeling you get when you see the
marine sticker on the back of
someone’s car. That’s your brother,” says Smith. “Doesn’t matter
if you know his name, you go up
to him and shake his hand. That’s
the feeling you get with a million
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other marines, from World War II
to present day.”
Smith, a 39-year-old father of
two who runs his own business,
dove straight into the armed forces, knowing and anticipat [