Marine Lance Cpl. Gregory Rund was featured as Veteran of the Day on May 24, 2023 in support of Carry The Load Memorial May National Relay.

Marine Lance Cpl. Gregory Rund was born on September 25, 1983, in Denver, Colorado, but was raised in Littleton. He was a freshman at Columbine High School when two teenage gunmen killed 13 people there before taking their own lives in April 1999.  Lund was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Regiment, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California when he was killed fighting house to house on December 11, 2004 in Fallujah, Anbar Province according to military.com.  Rund was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed his family told the Denver Post.

He was 21 years old.

Rund enjoyed sports in high school and played on the Columbine High School football team that won a state championship his senior year. After America was attacked on September 11, 2001, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in November, but didn’t attend recruit training at Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego until after he graduated high school. Rund graduated from Boot Camp on October 11, 2002, and then left for the Marine Corps School of Infantry.  He graduated from the School of Infantry on January 10, 2003 and was immediately assigned to the “Fighting Fifth” 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, India Co, 2nd Platoon.  

According to his memorial website, Rund’s unit deployed to Kuwait on February 7, 2003, and crossed into Iraq on March 20.  His battalion fought northward to Baghdad until the Iraqi capital city fell and Saddam Hussein was removed from power.  They halted in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq and performed security and reconstruction duties.  After seven months, the “Fighting Fifth” redeployed to Camp Pendleton.  

“He used to bring my newspapers and mail in,” said neighbor Beverly Bell to the Associated Press in 2004.  “He always had a big smile.”  Bell attended a block party in Rund’s honor after his first deployment.

A little over a year later, on September 10, 2004, the “Fighting Fifth” returned to Iraq and was the lead battalion tasked to take Fallujah from the insurgents.  On December 11, Rund and his fire team entered a house, and they were immediately engaged in close quarter fighting and hand-to-hand combat.  Rund provided covering fire while his team exited the building. He was mortally wounded by small arms fire and died shortly after according to his memorial website.  For his action on that day, Rund received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

Lance Cpl. Gregory Rund was laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Colorado.  To post a tribute or comment in his honor, please visit his Veterans Legacy Memorial page at https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/GREGORYPRUND/E6925E4.  

Carry The Load Memorial May National Relay
For the sixth consecutive year, VA joins forces with volunteers to march in honor of Veterans and service members during the Memorial May National Relay starting on April 27.  The annual collaboration with VA’s National Cemetery Administration includes rallies at 38 national cemeteries during a 20,000-mile march along five separate routes covering 48 states. All five routes converge on Memorial Day weekend for a final rally in Dallas, Texas. The list of national cemeteries, along with the dates and times that they will be visited by Carry The Load marchers, can be found here. 


Fort Logan National Cemetery

I merely met this young man as a friend of my nephew. His desire to serve his country was impressive.  I later found out what an amazing leader he was and that his sense of humor was deeply appreciated by those who knew him well.  I wish you would have had the opportunity to return home and share a long life with family and friends.  You are thought of often.

GREGORY P RUND

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