For the second straight year, Heroes In Transition (HIT) will celebrate U.S. Marine Capt. Eric A. Jones on his birthday.
“Our annual day of giving is an opportunity to honor the difference that Eric made through his life, military service, and ultimate sacrifice for our country,” said HIT Executive Director Silene Gordon. “There’s no better day for us to do this as an organization and a community than on Eric’s birthday.”
Born on April 12, 1980, Eric would have turned 46 this coming Sunday.
HIT is asking the public to join its staff and board members in taking a moment to remember Eric by finding a way to give back, whether it’s through a donation to the nonprofit or by signing up as a volunteer for its upcoming 11th Annual Ruck4HIT Powered by the Baldwin Group which kicks off on Friday, April 24th.
Donations to HIT will help strengthen its 15 programs which support service members, veterans, military couples, military spouses, and military families in the region. Last year, HIT served over 2,300 individuals through its programs which are aimed at building community, strengthening relationships, serving as a pathway to healing, and empowering people to live purposeful lives.
Cyndy Jones and her late husband Kenneth formed HIT in honor of their only son Eric after he was killed in a helicopter crash while flying a combat mission in October 2009. He was 29 years old when he died.
His mother has shared that her son knew at a young age that he wanted to be a pilot. Following the 9/11 attacks, Eric was compelled to join the military, being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in August 2004, the same year he earned his bachelor’s of science degree in business and finance from Northeastern University.
He earned his coveted Naval Aviator wings in April 2007 and was assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton in California where he learned to fly the UH-1N Huey Helicopter.
He deployed twice to Iraq — once in 2008 and again in 2009 — before his final deployment to Afghanistan in July 2009 when he was reassigned from Iraq to Camp Bastion in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.
During last year’s inaugural Capt. Eric Jones Day, HIT released a song, “4 Those Who Can’t,” which was creating using AI by Andrew White, a certified personal trainer at Cape Cod Rehab in Mashpee. The song, which is available for streaming on Spotify, has been used as an anthem for the Ruck4HIT, an annual relay race in which teams, consisting of a minimum of 7 ruckers and 2 drivers, run with weighted rucksacks through every town on Cape Cod over the course of roughly 36 hours.
The Ruck4HIT, which will kick off at the Cape Cod Fairgrounds on April 24th and conclude on April 25th, also at the fairgrounds, raises funds to strengthen HIT’s work.
You can help us honor Eric’s life, service, and sacrifice with a donation to HIT (click here) on Capt. Eric Jones Day.
