November 07, 2022

An Honor Ride

Source: The Detroit Jewish News

Journalist: Jackie Headapohl

Former Metro Detroiter takes part in 1,700-mile ride to honor fallen soldiers and raise awareness about PTSD and addiction.

“Powerful. A great lesson in leadership.” That’s how former Metro Detroiter Greg Kaplan, 37, describes the bike ride he took with retired Army Col. Chris Kolenda on Oct. 22.

Kaplan and Kolenda rode the final leg of Kolenda’s 1,700-mile Honor Ride to remember the six fallen soldiers in his 800-member paratrooper unit in Afghanistan on the 15th anniversary of their deaths: Pfc. Chris Pfeifer, Sgt. Adrian Hike, Spc. Jacob Lowell, Ssg. Ryan Fritsche, Capt. Dave Boris and Maj. Tom Bostick.

Kolenda told CNN’s Jake Tapper he undertook the Honor Ride to bring awareness that these “six fallen heroes were flesh-and-blood Americans, not just names etched in granite.”

Read the full story and more from The Detroit Jewish News.

Author

  • Christopher D. Kolenda

    Adjunct Senior Fellow

    Christopher D. Kolenda, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, is the Founder of the Strategic Leaders Academy and helps solo practitioners and small...