Remembrance, honor and sacrifice brings community together for DAV 5K

Don Inns will never have the chance to outrun his friend Jeffrey Bruce Owen since losing a footrace to him more than 40 years ago. But he made the 2023 DAV 5K a walk to remember his fellow Marine.

Inns, a disabled veteran and DAV benefits advocate, participated in the 5K event on Veterans Day in Cincinnati in memory of Lance Cpl. Owen and all of the 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers killed by a terrorist truck bombing in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983.

Before deploying to Lebanon, Inns, who was Owen’s squad leader, had raced the 19-year-old Owen in a 10K in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

“While I led the first 8 kilometers of the run, Bruce ran a smarter race and crossed the finish line ahead of me,” Inns said. “I challenged him to a rematch, but it would have to wait until after we got back from our deployment to Beirut.