ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – For the fourth straight year, loved ones came together for a pub crawl honoring U.S. Marines Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz, a Wentzville native who was killed as U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.
What started as a way to keep his memory alive has turned into a movement. Jared’s parents, Mark and Jaclyn Schmitz, took their grief and turned it into action, founding The Freedom 13, an organization dedicated to honoring fallen heroes by supporting veterans still with us.
Saturday’s pub crawl spanned 23 bars across the St. Louis area, all raising funds to help build and run Freedom 13 camps.
The first Freedom 13 Camp is taking shape on 171 acres in Bourbon, Missouri. Thirteen houses will be built, each dedicated to one of the service members killed. Every location will have a house dedicated to Jared. To learn more about The Freedom 13 movement, click here.