When 13 U.S. service members were killed on August 26 in a suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, Canyon Lake resident and former U.S. Marine Kenton Redlin felt compelled to do something in their honor.
On one of the hottest days of the summer, Redlin walked from his home to the main gate with a weighted vest to place 13 flags at Canyon Lake’s main entrance. Each flag featured the name of the service member who lost their life. Redlin’s wife, Jessica, joined him on the five-mile round trip walk.
Redlin explains why he walked in the heat with a weighted vest, “I wanted to walk in the heat with the weighted vest and sweat my butt off because I wanted it to be hard, I wanted it to suck. We should be happy for what we have today because tomorrow isn’t promised. We’re lucky to be able to walk five miles on one of the hottest days of the year. The families that lost their loved ones are going through something so much harder. We did it for the ones who can’t anymore. Embrace the suck, the pain is just weakness leaving the body. The enemy is always training and so should we. When the marines PT it’s already hard and they find things to make it even harder. Either roll in the mud, run in the rain, or jump in a lake to get everything wet, boots or shoes soaked and just uncomfortable, and run five miles back after you already ran five miles to get to the lake you just jumped into. It’s hard to explain but I’m sure other service members would understand.”
The day after Redlin placed the flags at the main gate, he noticed that one was stolen. He immediately replaced the missing flag.
About a week later, Redlin’s wife was driving by the main gate and noticed that one of the flags was broken. She went home to retrieve some tape and by the time she returned to the main gate someone had already fixed the broken flag. “That really touched me,” she said.
Redlin joined the Marine Corps at the age of 19 and served four years. He deployed with the 24th MEU. He grew up in Corona, California, and relocated to Canyon Lake five years ago. He met Jessica when he was 18 years old. They have been married for 12 years and have two children. Today, Redlin is a journeyman lineman and is currently in Louisiana to assist with the aftermath of hurricane Ida.
