Lance Cpl=Greg Rund 21 yrs
Posted on 12/14/2004 12:51:15 PM PST by missyme
LITTLETON, Colo. – A Marine who was a freshman at Columbine High School when two students killed 13 people there was killed in action in Iraq, his family said.
Lance Cpl. Greg Rund, 21, was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed Saturday, his family said in a statement released Monday. He had talked about joining the Marines throughout high school and enlisted shortly after graduating in 2002.
The Marines confirmed Rund's death Wednesday, saying he died in combat in Al Anbar Province. He was assigned to the 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Rund was a freshman when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris shot 12 students, a teacher, and then themselves on April 20, 1999.
"Greg made us so proud, but he never wanted to be recognized for his actions," said the statement from his family. "Neither Columbine nor Iraq was to define him."
Rund was on the 2000 state championship football team, and his younger brother, Doug, now plays football at Columbine as a sophomore.
"It seems so unfortunate that you get through some things, but it catches up with you," Ken Holden, Rund's former high school counselor, told the Denver Post.
Rund's family described him as "reckless, smart, off-key and wonderful."
"He never did anything like everyone else did," the statement said. "He did everything to the extreme and always knew that somehow with his humor and a little luck, he would make it through."
Prayers for the family.
Lance Cpl=Greg Rund 21 yrs
We'll all miss you, man.
Say hello to Saint Peter for me.
Huh? Is he saying that Rund was marked for death somehow?
May God grant his family and friends strength and perseverance.
God bless our fallen hero and his family.
Listening to Nat King Cole Christmas songs and reading this has got me crying. Very sad for his family.
Not wanting to sound insensitive, but what does that mean?
THIS is so sad, GOD BLESS YOU MARINE ,if there is a special place and I believe there is, for our brave MARINES AND SOLDIERS, he will be there, he had a great smile and looked like he was a lot of fun to be around, and was very very brave ,I just cant imagine a fellow so young strapping a weapon on his shoulder and fighting like hell, you will be missed and so will all the rest of our young men.
Any better photos or more on this man, and details of his last battle?
'Strong passion for the country' led to two tours of duty
By Jim Sheeler, Rocky Mountain News
December 14, 2004
In the year when the Columbine High School football team won the state championship, Greg Rund did not make the game-winning catch in the end zone. He did not make a play-saving block or even a single tackle.
He was there, though - as he always was - suited up near the bench, wearing a jersey that read "110 percent," all the time knowing that he probably would never be called to play.
"I think what he strived at was being in a team, being part of a unit," said Andy Lowry, coach of the Columbine football team - on which Rund played for four years, but only in a handful of games. "Whether it was in the Marines or with a football team, he was there to accomplish goals."
Lance Cpl. Rund, a 2002 graduate of Columbine and member of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, was killed during recent fighting in Iraq, his family said Monday. He was 21.
Though the U.S. Defense Department had yet to confirm the death as of Monday, family members said they were told that Rund died Saturday. On that date, the military reported that a Marine was killed in Anbar province, which includes the hot spots of Fallujah and Ramadi.
Rund was born in Denver and lived his whole life in south Jefferson County - until his two tours in Iraq.
If someone asked him, he would talk about attending Columbine during the school shootings in 1999. If someone really prodded, he would also talk about his pride in serving as a Marine. Still, family and friends said, he would rather direct the conversation toward a laugh, and someone else's story.
"Greg made us so proud, but he never wanted to be recognized for his actions," the family said in a statement. "He was honored to serve his country and he was a patriot, but for him, it was very simple, he saw a need and a calling outside of himself and he wanted to help. Neither Columbine nor Iraq was to define him. For him, there was nothing that was insurmountable. He was reckless, smart, off-key and wonderful.
"He did everything to the extreme and always knew that somehow with his humor and a little luck he would make it through," his family said.
Even as a child, Rund was athletic, but was known more for his stamina than his actual ability - a trait that held through high school. In his four years on the team, he tried - and mostly failed - at just about every position. Still, he made it to every practice, preceded by a silly smile and an unending arsenal of jokes and pranks.
"I maybe saw him play in one game, but he never missed a practice - we called him 'the practice all-star' " said Logan Wright, who was a freshman on the Columbine High School football team when Rund was a senior.
"He wore this green jersey every day to practice. It said, '110 percent,' " Wright said. "He even wore that jersey under his uniform, to all the games."
In some ways, coach Lowry said, that kind of spirit was just as important as a good quarterback.
"He made the practices fun for everyone," Lowry said. "His character would just make you laugh, and we all need that in our world. It was just him. You'd just shake your head - as a teacher and a coach."
Inside his office at Columbine, as he thought about the difficulty of dealing with the news, Lowry said he is constantly reminded of the resilience of Rund and the class of 2002.
"Their class was the freshman class the year of the shooting, and they were very tight," Lowry said.
"They just loved one another. They've faced a lot of tragedy. Just a real special group of kids."
When one of those kids traded one team for another, few were surprised.
"I didn't have any doubt that it was a personality fit for him, because he was a leader and had strong passion for what he wanted to do and strong passion for the country," said Andy Sands, who attended Columbine one grade ahead of Rund.
"That's how he put it to me: a strong passion for the country."
sheelerj@RockyMountainNews.com
I'll 2nd that, very well put nothing more to say.
I think he means everybody dies.
I know the family and will print out this thread to give them . If any of you want to say anything go ahead, I will print this out tomorrow and mail it to the family.
God bless him and his family. We're so very sorry.
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