MOODY AFB — They came marching up Cat Creek Road, these airmen from Moody AFB. Eight men, all carrying rucksacks except for one marching with a large American flag, made their way along the side of the road Monday as cars changed lanes to miss them, with some drivers flashing lights or waving as they passed.

They were Rucking for Memorial Day, a tradition that goes back many years at the base. All members of the 823rd Base Defense Squadron, they were making a 12-mile march to honor those in uniform who went out to battle for the U.S. and never came back.

TSgt. Brian Marshall said that before the march, each walker picked a person to study and memorialize. For him, it was PFC Holland J. Bruley.

Online military and genealogical resources tell the story of Bruley, a farmer in Grand Isle County, Vermont, who was 29 when he enlisted in the Army in 1940, a year and a half before the Pearl Harbor attack plunged the nation into World War II. He served with the 33rd Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission website.

He was declared MIA — missing in action — in Italy. The American Battle Monuments Commission gives his date of death as July 10, 1943, which would coincide with Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, which started the day before.

More than 680 U.S. servicemen were listed as MIA during the battle.

He died with no wife and no children, but he has not been forgotten.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.