SAN ANTONIO – A crowd of red, white and blue filled Mission County Park Saturday morning for the Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward 5K.
More than 2,000 participants ran with American flags in hand, others added extra weight to their rucksacks and some showed their ultimate support for warriors by carrying another person throughout the course.
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Nicole Goss, a U.S. Army veteran, carried her 7-year-old son, Troy, who weighs 82 pounds. Her race bib reads, "I carry for Cat Bell and Trecia Rogers." Goss served with both women during her deployment in 2012.
"For my girls who got hit with a 155 (mm) round and still had to get up every day," Goss said. "We got this."
The women survived the attack, but Goss says the road to recovery has not been easy for them. Goss also added more weights in her rucksack.
"This is 22 pounds (inside here) for the lives (of veterans) that we loose to suicide every year," Goss said.
Some participants at the 5K, like Moses Sonera, were wounded veterans themselves. Sonera was wounded in 2014 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"I spent, like, almost a year and a half in the hospital saving my leg but at the end it had to be amputated," Sonera said.
Sonera's leg was amputated below the knee. He admits his recovery wasn't easy, but he said he kept fighting because he had a family to feed and military brothers and sisters to honor.
"This is Military City, and they always support us and took care of us. I appreciate it," Sonera said. "From a veteran to the families here, I want to say thank you and that I love them."
It's an unwavering support that he'll need once again as his son is set to officially enlist in the Army on Oct. 15.
For more information on the Wounded Warrior Project Carry Forward 5K, click here.
