To honor Veterans Day, a local gym in Downtown Detroit held a rowing competition called the Million Meter Row Challenge for folks with various athletic abilities.
"So the competition today is to raise money for the Capable program," said Jen Dimmer, founder of Capable Program.
Organized at CrossFit in the D, Dimmer says it's a fitness program for cancer survivors.
"It's a 12-week exercise intervention that introduces cancer survivors to the sport of CrossFit," said Dimmer.
From cancer survivors to athletes and even veterans, nearly 200 folks took part in the event. One of the competitors is Juan Nunez—a veteran who served 21 years in the Air Force as a technical sergeant.
"For me, Veterans Day means remembering all my brothers in arms. Getting out of the military, the camaraderie I was able to find it here," said Nunez.
After five deployments, Juan retired and now works for the TSA. But when the 40-year-old is not working, he works out at the gym. Juan also donated an American flag to CrossFit in the D.
"During my last deployment, I actually asked one of the pilots to fly it over the base. Fast forward to when I came back home, I was at this gym. I asked the coaches if I could bring the flag over to honor the fallen heroes," said Nunez.
But there is more to the flag. It has the names of 19 soldiers and a unit written on it.
"They all passed away for different reasons," said Nunez.
Of the 19 soldiers, 13 were part of Juan's unit stationed at Kabul Airport. Jaun says they were killed in an attack on August 26th, 2021, during the evacuation of American forces from Afghanistan.
"Does it hurt for you to see every time a name goes up on this flag?" asked 7 Action News.
"It hurts when we don't remember them. When I work out, and I want to stop, I want to quit, I look at the flag, and it makes me realize that this pain I'm going through means nothing compared to what these gentlemen have been through, what their families have been through," said Nunez.
As for the best way to honor veterans, Nunez says, thank them for their service and buy them coffee.
Meanwhile, to learn more about the Capable program, head to https://www.teamcapable.org.
