Memorial Day ruck honors Abigail Jenks

One step at a time, wearing the boots her daughter wore the day she died, Mary Tator keeps the memory of Abigail Jenks alive.

“She’s been drawing her whole life,” Tator said, remembering what Abby spent many hours doing since she was little. “She drew over 100 works of her own art and I would like that to be her legacy.”

In 2021, the paratrooper who called the Capital Region home was killed during a routine training exercise at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. She was 20 years old.

“She understood life,” Tator said. “She drew life; she also attracted death.

Tator joined dozens of others this Memorial Day for the annual Abigail Jenks Ruck.

“A ruck is essentially a military-style backpack,” organizer Vincent Sablich explained. “The verb “ruck” literally means to throw a backpack with weight. »

The event was organized three years ago by Sablich and his close friend Jack Trimmings.

“It was just a group of three or four guys that we knew could handle the task,” Trimmings said. “We ended up doing about 30 miles that year.”

It has become a more community-oriented event benefiting the Saratoga Springs High School Abigail Jenks Scholarship and the Veterans Housing Coalition.

“We wanted to rally the community around our message and just have an event where we could all share a little bit of pain,” Trimmings said.

“With every step you take, remember that someone took a step before you,” Sablich said, “and the steps we honor are those who took the ultimate step and gave their lives.”

Jenks was a priority when these measures were taken Monday, but organizers and Tator want those in attendance to walk away with much more.

“It represents fallen soldiers across the country,” Tator said. “They are in our hearts and we carry their light.”