STEWART AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.Y. -- The 105th Base Defense Group hosted the Hustler 6 Memorial Ruck March in honor of Tech. Sgt. Joseph Lemm and Staff Sgt. Louis Bonacasa, rucking from Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, to the Purple Heart Museum, New York, Dec. 6, 2025.
Lemm and Bonacasa, along with four other Airmen, were killed in action on Dec. 21, 2015, while conducting outside-the-wire human intelligence operations near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. During the operation, both defenders placed themselves between their team and a suicide bomber who had parked his explosive-ridden motorcycle 15 feet away from the team’s patrol. Their actions saved two of their team members and an Afghan defender.
They were both members of the 105th Security Forces Squadron at the 105th Airlift Wing during the time of their deployment.
For the 10th anniversary of their death, the 105 BDG hosted the first annual Hustler 6 Memorial Ruck March. The ruck was six miles in honor of the six Airmen who lost their lives that day.
“It is important to honor these Airmen because names fade unless they are spoken,” said Senior Master Sgt. Flavio Martinez, 105th Base Defense Group senior Enlisted Leader. “Ceremonies, rucks, speeches and memorial events ensure the next generation knows who these Airmen were, what they stood for and why their service is worth remembering.”
About 250 members from across the 105th Airlift Wing joined the 105 BDG for the ruck, honoring Lemm, Bonacasa, and their team, for approximately two miles across Stewart ANGB and four miles across town to the Purple Heart Museum.
The ruck built unity, connected Airmen to something greater than their day-to-day tasks and helped to restore perspective and reminds the force why their work matters, according to Martinez.
Most importantly, he said, the ruck reassured the families who lost everything that the men and women of the 105th Base Defense Group will never forget them or their sacrifice.