By Sam Elliott
Brian Letendre would have been one of the first in line to sign up for the inaugural Camo Run, a 10K and 5K charity event set for May 21 that runs through Fort Benjamin Harrison Park in Lawrence.
“He loved drinking beer and he loved running,” his widow, Autumn Letendre, said.
The event will honor the 10-year anniversary of Brian’s death in Ramadi, Iraq, where he was serving as a Marine captain. The race will also raise money for The Golden Star USA Foundation, which Autumn founded in 2011 to help support fellow military families.
“Over these 10 years, I knew that I wanted to start a non-profit that could serve the troops and their families,” she said. “Having been that family for his years of service and other deployments, I knew how difficult that time period was. The military and government provide a lot, but you need even more beyond it. I just wanted to be an extra provider in that gap for what families need.”
The race is named after The Golden Star USA Foundation’s Camo Coverage program, which fields requests from across the country from military servicemen and women and their families.
“Anyone who is currently serving active duty or honorably discharged troops and their dependents are able to write to the Golden Star Foundation and say, ‘We need formula, we need a hole in the roof fixed, we’re getting ready to be evicted, we’re getting ready to move and we don’t have a bed, or our insurance deductible is $1,000 and we just can’t afford it’ — people have needs they just can’t afford, whatever it is,” Autumn said.
The foundation has hosted gala fundraisers in the past, but, as Autumn said, “Those were really just friends and families being nice.”
“This is really our inaugural event and I’m so excited. The New You, an esthetician in the area, is our title sponsor this year. They’re truly the first company to be a big backer for us,” she said. “It’s exciting because I feel like finally people are starting to believe in what we’re doing and that’s motivating. This year being the 10-year anniversary is overwhelming for me because I’m emotionally tied to that and remembering him, but I’m crazy excited about the event.”
Difficulty securing donations during The Golden Star USA Foundation’s early days inspired Autumn to open Abby Adams Boutique at 10122 Brooks School Rd. in 2013.
“It was very difficult to get donations, because people were already supporting other groups. I thought, ‘That’s OK, I can do it myself,’” she said. “I needed to find another way, so that’s how this store became. I love shopping, I love designing and decorating, so I thought if I could create a store that ladies can come shop in, I can take all those proceeds to be my donations and I’ll have a revenue stream.”
The inaugural Camo Run event on May 21 begins with the start of the 10K race at 10:45 a.m. outside Triton Brewery, 5764 Wheeler Rd. The 5K begins at 11 a.m. and a kids’ quarter-mile race is at noon.
“We have so much more happening, too,” Autumn said. “We have former Golden Knights that are going to be jumping in from the sky to start off the run, we have more than just the run, the walk and a kids run – there will be a bounce house for kids and other vendors out front, too. We have a private VIP lunch that follows with individuals who served with Brian as well as corporations that have backed us.”
For more, or to register for the Camo Run by May 19, visit TheGoldenStarUSA.com.
Love at first laugh
Autumn and Brian met while students and soccer players at Milligan College in Elizabethton, Tenn., where Brian’s first flirtations with his wife-to-be were designed for laughs.
“The first thing that he said to me, we were at a soccer outing at a Pizza Hutt, and he walked up to me — and I had heard that he liked me through rumors between the teams — and he grabbed my arms and I thought, ‘This is kind of awkward,’ and he said, ‘Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful elbows?’” she said. “I was like, ‘This guy is a weirdo,’ but it made me laugh because it was just so off the wall. And everybody started laughing because he had told them he was going to say something, but that was the beginning of me falling in love with him.”
The couple was married in April of 2001 and just weeks later Brian was deployed to Japan, with his deployment extended following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Brian was home that Christmas, but his unit was quickly activated again for deployment.
“Within the first three years of our marriage, we spent less than 90 days together,” Autumn said. “He left for war when I was pregnant … My son Dillon was about four months old by the time he came home and held him for the first time.”
Now Autumn and Dillon share laughs when they look through old family photos of Brian, and in her late husband’s honor she has a passion for honoring and helping other soldiers and their families.
“Brian wouldn’t have wanted to be honored at all,” she said. “He just wanted to do his job. He would say, ‘Autumn, who else needs help?’ That’s what he did.”
