Operation Deep Blue recently completed its 5th annual “Expedition to Honor Our Fallen,” a 225-mile sea kayak paddle from Fort Mott State Park in Pennsville, New Jersey to Washington D.C.
The annual event honors the lives of first responders and service members who die in the line of duty while raising funds for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
“Not only do the missions of Operation Deep Blue and Tunnel to Towers perfectly align, but year after year Tunnel to Towers remains a survivors’ charity of choice. Operation Deep Blue is proud to partner with Tunnel to Towers to ensure our heroes are never forgotten and their surviving family members are taken care of,” said Tom Hauck, Founder and President of Operation Deep Blue.
Dena Parlo, the widow of Senior Officer Specialist Christopher Parlo, helped launch the expedition on Sept. 16, as the paddlers took off from New Jersey. The Parlo family had their mortgage paid off by Tunnel to Towers in 2021.
The paddlers then traveled through the Delaware River, Chesapeake & Delaware Canal, Chesapeake Bay, and Potomac River en route to Washington D.C.
Operation Deep Blue is a nonprofit organization that aims to increase awareness of law enforcement officers, other first responders and military service members who died in the line of duty. The group also raises funds to provide support to the families these heroes leave behind.
Participants in this year’s event included active, retired and former law enforcement, military and disaster preparedness and response personnel from various federal, state, county, and local agencies. Each paddler completed the journey in honor of a fallen first responder or service member.
At the landing ceremony hosted by the Capitol Yacht Club, Operation Deep Blue presented Sarah Laird, the wife of fallen Frederick County Fire Department Battalion Chief Joshua Laird and Jennifer Alcorn, wife of fallen Frederick Police Department Lt. Andrew Stewart Alcorn, with a check for $20,000 to benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
Laird served with Frederick County Fire and Rescue for over 21 years. He died in the line of duty while battling a house fire on Aug. 11, 2021. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation paid off the mortgage on the Laird family’s home in December of 2021.
Alcorn died on Aug. 22, 2021 of job-related heart disease. Tunnel to Towers paid off his family’s mortgage in honor of Independence Day.
“To have this incredible group of veterans, service members, police, and firefighters, choose to support the Tunnel to Towers Foundation for another year, is a great honor,” said Frank Siller Chairman and CEO of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. “We will always do our part - to support Gold Star and fallen first responder families, across this country.”
For more information on Operation Deep Blue go here. For more on the Tunnel to Towers Foundation go here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.