Note: This article was originally published on Dec. 14, 2004. We’re re-posting it now for our tribute to Colorado’s Fallen.
Ken Holden’s regret is on a piece of paper inside his Columbine
High School office. On it is the address of a former
student-turned-soldier fighting on the dusty streets of Iraq.
Lance Cpl. Greg Rund’s mother dropped by a few weeks ago to pass
along the paper and a message: Greg would love to get a card from
you, his mother told Holden, the young man’s former counselor.
But Monday, Holden pulled that piece of paper off his desk and
stared at it. And he cried softly. Holden tried to make out the
handwritten words through the tears.
“L-C-E-C-P-L,” the counselor said, reading the abbreviation of
his former student’s Marine title before offering a reason for his
tears.
“I hadn’t sent the card yet.”
Rund, a 2002 Columbine graduate and class comedian, was killed
Saturday during a mission in Fallujah, Iraq, his family said
Monday.
Rund was 21.
It was his second tour of duty.
“We had this wonderful block party when he came home last year,”
said Beverly Bell, who lived two doors from Rund and his family in
Jefferson County. “Barbecue, everything. He was so appreciative.
“Now, there’s cars lined up and down the street with people
visiting,” offering condolences to his family.
As a freshman, he survived the shooting at his school that left 12
of his fellow students and a teacher dead. Then, he made it through
his first tour in Iraq. Always, his humor never left him.
“It seems so unfortunate that you get through some things, but it
catches up with you,” Holden said.
Rund had talked of joining the Marines since his early days at
Columbine, when school seemed as endless as the jokes that so often
spilled from his mouth.
After graduation, Rund was more serious, fulfilling his dream of
serving in the Marines – a duty he never boasted about.
“Greg made us so proud, but he never wanted to be recognized for
his actions,” Rund’s family said in a written statement. “Neither
Columbine nor Iraq was to define him.”
Rund was the kid who regularly had to crawl on his arms and knees
across the field because he made jokes during football practice.
“He talked about the Marines; during boot camp they had to do
something pretty similar,” said his football coach, Andy Lowry.
And then came Rund’s punch line: They were easier on him in the
Marines.
While always the jokester, Rund was also the kid who would
sacrifice for the team. He played several positions even though, at
140 pounds, he was undersized for all of them, Lowry said.
The coach heard of Rund’s death and told his players about it
during a banquet Saturday night.
“We preach so much about our program being a brotherhood and a
family,” Lowry said. “He will always be part of our football
family. Somebody that meant an awful lot to our program lost his
life serving our country.
“That was pretty difficult to share. A lot of tears were shed.”
Rund’s younger brother, Doug, a sophomore, plays football for
Columbine.
“I’m not really sure what I’ll say to (Doug) tomorrow,” said
Holden, the counselor. “If he wants to talk, we’ll talk. If he
wants to wait, we’ll wait.”
Sara Schweitzberger, Greg Rund’s friend since elementary school,
said it was common knowledge that he wanted to become a Marine.
“It’s important for everybody in life to do the things that are
most important to them,” said Schweitzberger, 21, a student at
Western State College in Gunnison. “We need to remember the things
that make our life complete.”
Rund is Colorado’s 18th recorded death in Iraq. The military
declined to identify Rund and would not describe the circumstances
of his death.
Those who remember him say he will never be forgotten.
“As a teacher, you try to leave an imprint on them. Sometimes,
they leave an imprint on you,” said Peter Horvath, one of Rund’s
physical education teachers.
At school Monday, the halls were silent. There were whispers about
the death.
Holden stepped out of the office sparingly. He preferred to
remember the time this fall when his former student visited.
On that trip to school, Rund talked of life after the Marines. He
talked about college, something that rarely came up during high
school.
The jokester was still there, Holden said, but he no longer was a
boy.
“He was a man,” the teacher said. “And I’m pretty proud of
him.”
