By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

“How do you carry on without a part of your family, your heart?”

That’s the question Lorie Schneider and her husband, Rick, asked themselves after their 23-year-old son, Kyle, was killed in Afghanistan in 2011.

The Schneiders found the only way they could carry on without Kyle was to help others in his memory. After Kyle’s death, the Schneiders created the Cpl. Kyle R. Schneider Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting “active duty, reserve and retired United States Armed Forces members, their families and injured and recovering heroes.”

Later this month, the Cpl. Kyle R. Schneider Foundation will host its third annual Honor and Remember Run/Walk to raise money for the foundation and pay tribute to the men and women who have defended our country. The race takes place Saturday, May 20, at Van Buren Park.

Kyle Schneider spent much of his childhood at Van Buren Park. He began swimming lessons there as a toddler, and throughout his youth he enjoyed sledding, playing basketball, flying kites and running at the park.

“It’s a beautiful park. What we want to do is bring families to the park and see what the park has to offer,” Lorie Schneider told the Messenger in 2016.

Last year, Lorie said, the lodge at the park was dedicated in Kyle’s name, and one participant — himself a veteran — unofficially dubbed a hill in the park “Schneider Hill.”

“I have now conquered Schneider Hill!” Lorie recalled the man saying after he finished the race.

‘It’s my turn’

A 2006 graduate of Baker High School, Kyle Schneider joined the United States Marine Corps in 2008 after leaving Onondaga Community College. He wanted to give back to his community and his country.

“It’s my turn,” he told his parents.

“[Kyle] wanted to serve something higher than himself,” Lt. Col. John D. Harrill, Schneider’s battalion commander, said after Kyle’s death. “I remember talking to him in the barracks. He left community college because he didn’t feel like he was doing enough for the country he loved.”

Cpl. Schneider was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force. The 3rd Platoon was deployed to Afghanistan in January 2011 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Kyle was injured in May 2011 and insisted on returning to combat.

On June 30, 2011, Kyle was killed in Helmand Province by an improvised explosive device. He was 23.

After Kyle’s death, Rick and Lorie Schneider modeled the Cpl. Kyle R. Schneider Foundation’s programs after their son’s interests or passions.

Kyle was an animal lover, so the foundation helps provides veterans with service and therapy dogs. The foundation organizes fishing trips for soldiers through the NYS Bass Chapter Federation, as Kyle was an avid outdoorsman. The organization also provides care packages to service members both overseas and stateside.

The family waiting room at the Syracuse VA Medical Center was named after Kyle in 2014, and the foundation makes sure the Cpl. Kyle R. Schneider Family Waiting Room stays well-stocked with snacks, toiletries and entertainment items.

In addition to its many programs, the Cpl. Kyle R. Schneider Foundation presents a graduating Baker senior with a scholarship.

“For us as a family, every act of kindness is freedom extended,” Lorie said.

Service and sacrifice

As the Honor and Remember Run/Walk expands, so do the opportunities for the community to salute veterans and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

This year’s race falls on Armed Forces Day, which is traditionally observed the third Saturday in May. It also follows the anniversary of the day Kyle was awarded his first Purple Heart, May 18, 2011.

“I’m so honored to be Kyle’s mom and to be a part of this,” Lorie said. “What better day to bring a group of people together to [honor vets]?”

Lorie said her goal is to unite the community in honoring the nation’s servicemembers.

“This whole day is about a community being able to come out and participate in any way they can,” she said.

For the 2017 race, the foundation has recruited Ellen Brunet, an avid marathon runner, as volunteer coordinator. Brunet has participated in the Marine Corps Marathon and the Honor and Remember Run/Walk and is a friend of the Schneider Family.

“My greatest challenge isn’t running 26 miles,” Brunet told Central New York blogger Jim McKeever in 2013. “It’s running with a lump in my throat.”

Anyone interested in volunteering at the race can contact Volunteer Coordinator Ellen Brunet at [email protected].

Individuals and businesses who are interested in sponsorship opportunities may find out more at cplkyleschneider.com/van-buren-park-honor-remember-run-walk.

There are other opportunities to remember those who have served the country. Each year, the foundation lines the course with the “Honor a Hero” display. Families can submit photographs and information in honor of or in memory of their loved ones who served their country to [email protected]. Submissions must be high-resolution JPG or PDF files.

This year’s race also features the Fallen Stars Memorial Mural, a traveling display that lists more than 300 servicemembers from New York state who have been killed in action in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“We just every day are trying to do what we can to honor his legacy,” Lorie Schneider said. “Our lives just aren’t the same without Kyle. How do you carry on without a part of your family, your heart? For us the only way we can carry on is to help others.”