Nearly 10 years ago, Richard McIntire, a retired U.S. Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, with family roots in northeast Texas, decided he would honor the Corps and its members, past, present and future, with a commemorative run on the road outside his home southeast of Paris. On May 22, flag firmly in hand, he made his 500th run.
âIt started out as a Veteransâ Day thing in 2011,â said McIntire, 55, who works at Campbell Soup Co. âI did it for a month, then I just kept doing it, three and half miles, once a week, from my house and back, carrying an American flag mounted on a pole that was presented to me as a memento by the troops when I left a posting in Okinawa.â