News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Tom Schepers

Date: February 28, 2001

"South St. Paul honors runner for supporting war memorial
NATALIE Y. MOORE STAFF WRITER

Cheerios and flags were the two constants in Tom Schepers' life for six months.

Schepers, 54, ate a bowl of cereal and then ran 25 miles daily, carrying a 10-foot pole draped with the U.S. and POW-MIA flags.

From the anniversary of D-Day to Veterans Day last year, the South St. Paul man loped across the country, trusting that his passion would spread awareness for a World War II memorial in Washington, D.C.

Schepers, a Vietnam veteran, has good reason to think it did. He started his journey at a seaside Marine base in Camp Pendleton, Calif., and ended it near the Capitol steps in Washington. To honor that campaign, South St. Paul has declared today Tom Schepers Day.

The National World War II Memorial, scheduled for unveiling in 2003, will be at the east end of the reflecting pool on the National Mall.

No one knows how many donations to the memorial were inspired by Schepers' efforts, but his efforts were definitely real.

Schepers logged 3,300 miles, traveling through 12 states.

He wore out eight pairs of Nike sneakers.

Fourteen drivers took turns accompanying him in a support vehicle.

``If I ran to Venus and Mars, it still wouldn't do justice for this cause,'' Schepers said.

He ran facing traffic on the shoulders of highways, only skipping days when lightning flickered in the vicinity. He met family members of loved ones who died in wartime. He collected memorabilia along the way, glowed under a full moon in the night desert and dashed through prairies with houses miles from sight.

``It was so immense and non-ending. Each mile got more humbling,'' Schepers said. ``We didn't look at mileage, but how many veterans did we honor.''

Both his father and father-in-law served in World War II.

Even with a leave of absence from the hospital where he worked and his wife's blessing, Schepers missed her 50th birthday and his three college-age children -- more enduring sacrifices than the bumps and bruises he acquired on the trip.

He ran six to nine hours each day. The support recreation vehicle slowly followed Schepers, and the driver kept him on his regimen and bore the responsibility of finding spaghetti for dinner.

Schepers served in the Marines from 1966 to 1967 and was wounded in Vietnam when a bullet entered his left foot and passed into his right calf. He never recovered from the guilt of going home early from the war, and he put his running talent to use by completing countless marathons for veterans' causes.

The cross country idea originated with a Gulf War veteran friend, Schepers said. Last January, he had little money, but local veterans' groups, churches and individuals donated thousands of dollars at the 11th hour. They also formed a support committee back home while Schepers trekked on the road.

Schepers won't be in South St. Paul to bask in his day of honor. He's in Washington today receiving an award from the World War II memorial organizers."