Members of Company H, 121st Infantry Regiment at Fort Gillem marched for three days and 101 miles from the Northeast Georgia town of Toccoa to Atlanta to commemorate the 118-mile trek made by Easy Company and the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in December 1943 on its way to Fort Benning for parachute training.

Eleven of the LRSC soldiers, lead by 1st Sgt. Mike Hurndon and 1st Lt. Kent Hutnick, and carrying 35-pound ruck sacks and their M-4 carbines, left the Toccoa armory around 5 a.m. on the first leg of their journey. Their first stop was on old State Route 126 six miles outside the city at the site where Camp Toccoa, the 506th’s home during its train-up for the war in Europe once stood. A memorial to the soldiers who trained there and a small industrial park now occupy the camp’s location.

During their march the "long walkers," as they called themselves, stopped in the towns of Lula, Buford, Suwanee, Duluth and Buckhead. The group ended its tribute to Easy Company by joining the rest of Company H on Peachtree Road as they marched in the Atlanta Veteran’s Day Parade.

This is the second time Company H has conducted its commemorative march. The first occurred last year when the soldiers made only a 20 mile trek to Atlanta because much of the unit was tied up in security missions as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks.

This year’s 101-mile march allowed Company H to honor the 101st Airborne Division, to which Easy Company and the 506th were attached. Adding last year’s 20 miles to that honors the 121st Infantry Regiment, Hurndon said.