Corporal Tyler “Wally” Wallingford was born in Portland Maine on June 3rd, 1997 and joined the United Stated Maine Corps February 2nd, 2017. Before he joined the Marines he was part of the JROTC program. Where he began to fulfill his military desire. Tyler completed his goal of becoming a Marine at Parris Island, South Carolina. After going through ordnance school he was stationed at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina. Tyler served as an Aviation Ordnance Technician with the MOS of 6531, in the VMFAT-501 squadron. Active and adventurous, as a teenager, Tyler joined the Standish Fire Department where he ran calls for both rescue and fire. He was proud of himself the day he walked out of a fire with a kitten in hand. While living in South Carolina he developed a new passion for skydiving, where he completed over 100 jumps, and often encouraged others to go for their first time. Proud of his own accomplishment, he celebrated his 100th skydive by jumping naked. His fearless and fun attitude inspired anyone who met him. Tyler’s memorial stone came from one of his favorite hangout at a family beach in Limerick on Pickerel Pond.
Over this past Memorial Day Weekend, I had the privilege of carrying the stone and story of Marine Cpl Ty Wallingford on his very first journey with The Summit Project. I can’t describe how much of an honor it was to have this opportunity, especially after having gotten to know his fiancée, Abby, so well and being able to share this experience with my daughter, Kanani, who went to school with both Abby and Ty’s younger brother, Kyle. This journey was actually the combination of two different treks – one on Sunday, May 24th in Portland and another in Bangor on Memorial Day, May 25th.
This entire year has been pretty strange to say the least with the COVID-19 pandemic in full effect. Never have we ever experienced something so drastic causing us to change our lifestyles through the implementation of such strict social distancing measures. Most prevalently, it has definitely required us to find new and interesting ways to adapt and overcome the current situation, though with every challenge comes new opportunities if you are able (and willing) to see those new doors as they open in front of you. This was the first year since TSP was created 7 years ago that we had to cancel our annual Memorial Day event at Baxter State Park and find yet a new way to accomplish the TSP mission. And that’s exactly what we did.
On the morning of May 24th, I woke up at 6a and grabbed my pack and a coffee before loading everything into the truck with my daughter. We had decided that in lieu of hiking the Owl at Baxter State Park, we would instead carry our tribute stones on a ruck from Baxter Blvd in Portland to Spring Point Lighthouse in South Portland and back. In total, we would trek 16 miles. In my pack was 78 lbs – a pound for each of our fallen heroes honored within the organization. Along with this weight, was Ty’s stone wrapped in an American Flag. It wasn’t until we had almost arrived at our starting point that I realized how in all the years of Marine training and the TSP events that followed, this would be the very first time my daughter and I would ever be able to ruck together.
As we started our trek around the boulevard and under Tukey’s Bridge, I thought about how close the ties were that Ty and I shared. We both were born in Portland and lived in Standish. He worked in the Marine Airwing as an Aviation Ordnance Technician while my job now at Pratt & Whitney was building and overhauling the military jet engines that he worked on in the Marines. Yet our biggest commonality was our life view and how focused we both were to make the absolute most out of this life we were given. A memorial in Ty’s honor was built at Sebago Landing which is the very same place I go nearly every day to launch my boat and enjoy the peace and serenity of Sebago Lake under a fiery evening sunset. Each time I pass, I make sure to stop and pay my respects to Ty, touching the memorial stone which gives light to his life philosophy: “You only live once”…
I was fortunate enough to interact with quite a few people along the route. One lady came up to yell at me for not wearing a face mask (sorry, I’m outdoors. Not wearing one…). Though every now and then in passing, someone would pause and ask what I was doing carrying a pack and an American flag through the city streets of Portland. I both welcomed and embraced each opportunity to bring Ty out of my pack and share both his story and the WHY behind this very meaningful trek on this very special weekend. Each encounter brought instant tears to the eyes of those who heard his story, and through those tears I watched the instant connection that each person felt deep down inside. Yet through those tears also came a smile. Not because we lost such a great person from within our community, but because we were so incredibly grateful that such a person had lived.
As the trek continued, the near-80 pounds on my back seemed to grow with every step I took. Originally, my goal was to challenge myself to a point that there was a chance I couldn’t finish. Now, I was starting to question whether or not I would face that problem sooner rather than later. But in all honesty, I knew there was no way, no matter how heavy it felt or how long it took, that I could ever stop. I knew I could never forgive myself if I failed to accomplish mission on Ty’s first trek. At this point, I knew that I wasn’t doing this for me. I was doing this for something much greater than me. I was doing it for Ty. I was doing it for Abby. I was doing it for his friends and his family. Quite literally, Ty gave me the strength I needed and was the ONLY reason I kept pushing through the pain and putting one foot in front of the other, taking one step at a time. I could feel his presence with me and I wasn’t going to let him down.
I often talk about the funny things that happen when carrying the tribute stones of TSP on these treks. Too many things have occurred that I will never be able to explain and I’ve stopped attempting to. Through these occurrences I’ve learned that there are no coincidences, and this trek would prove to be no different. As I approached the end of our ruck, drenched in sweat from head to toe, my back feeling like I would never walk again, I got ready to take those last few steps. Just 50’ ft to the finish line, I turned onto a street that would take me the rest of the way home. As I did, I looked up and stopped dead in my tracks. I had rucked this route probably 20-30 times before over the past few years, but never once did I ever notice the name of the street that I ended my journey on each time. Today I did. It read: “Wallingford Dr.”
The next day, Kanani and I woke at 4a to once again load the truck and travel north to Bangor to participate in the annual Ruck to Remember. TSP had partnered with this incredible organization for two years now, but the event always took place down in Virginia. However, due to this COVID pandemic (remembering the doors that open in even the darkest of times) R2R was splitting up its group into outposts from each state in order to conduct their event semi-virtually. We were joining the Maine Outpost on their trek through Bangor to the Korean War Memorial in Mt Hope Cemetery. Again, no coincidences as this location was where the circle testimony took place on one our first third-party events that we supported back when TSP was created in 2014. I had the honor of joining them during this trek as well so the area was fairly familiar to me.
Once our group reached this memorial, we sat and conducted our own circle testimony teaching each member of our team about the heroes we were carrying. Ty’s story led our ceremony, and as I shared the stories and the family’s favorite memories of him, I realized just how much it felt like I knew him personally. That’s when I realized, I HAD come to know him on a personal level. Maybe not physically meeting him, but through the lives we lived in this community, through our life views, through our service, and through his family. It’s still incredible to me how during these treks we are able to build such a deep connection with someone who we’ve never had the chance to meet, yet that’s what makes this all so incredibly special to me. We could have passed each other by a thousand times and never known it. We did serve on the same base in the same branch of service and because of that he will always be my brother. I will forever be grateful to have the opportunity to show my appreciation for Ty in this very special way. His memory will always live on within me. I hope that as more people have the chance to carry his stone and learn his story that he will have the chance to live on in each and every one of them as well. But more than anything, I hope that people will learn his story and aspire to be all the very same things that he was.
To Abby and the rest of the Wallingford family, thank you for this opportunity to carry Ty with me and honor him on this Memorial Day Weekend.
This past weekend I had the honor of carrying the stone and the story of Cpl. Ty Wallingford for TSP’s Acadia hike. I was a last minute addition to the outing, and fortunately able to substitute for the person originally planning to carry Ty’s stone. To Ty’s family and loved ones, I am sorry for your loss. Losing a loved one is never easy, especially to lose them at such a young age. The manner of how Ty died makes it that much more difficult.
When I first read about Ty being accidentally shot and killed by a fellow marine, I was deeply saddened. I also found myself being angry at his friend who pulled the trigger that day. I then realized that not only was Ty’s life cut too short, but the life of the other marine was going to be forever changed as well. He was going to have to carry the guilt of his mistake for the rest of his life. So, my anger was pointless.
As I hiked with Ty’s stone, I thought about some of the things his fiancé , Abby told me about him. She told me he always liked to make people smile and laugh, how he could light up a room, and that his goal in life was to help people. He lived by the motto ” you only live once “. It’s those thoughts that made me ask myself, ” do I want to be angry for what happened?” Do I need to worry about the ” what ifs ” that may have changed the tragedy on that day? Unfortunately, nothing can change what happened. So, as I hiked the mountain I thought of Ty’s spirit. Instead of being sad or angry, I should enjoy the moment and make people laugh and smile. Think of happy times and funny stories. I took in the beauty of the mountains and ocean around me. I laughed with my fellow Team Bubble hikers as we made our way to the summit. I enjoyed the moment and company I was in.
Our mission was to remember the heroes and keep their spirit alive. I felt this was how Ty would have been if he were carrying the stone of a fallen hero. Respectful, contemplative, and enjoying the beautiful day and people around him. When we are at the top of Cadillac, I shared Ty’s story with my fellow hikers. I told of his crazy, fun, naked skydiving adventure. We laughed and we smiled. Ty wasn’t there in the flesh, but his spirit still lit up the room.
To Ty’s family and his fiancé Abby, I am sorry for your loss and I thank you for letting me honor his memory. Find peace and cherish the memories.
One week before the Marine Corps Birthday I decided to sign my husband and I up to complete the Marine Corps Marathon the following weekend. I’ve never done more than a 10K but YOLO, right? This would be our first ever marathon and it seemed only fitting to take a Hero with us. I knew how much support and motivation would come from carrying the stone of a Hero so I reached out to Greg Johnson to see if it could happen. He told me that he was thinking of two stones and I reminded him that the stones pick us so he already knew who it was. Greg asked me to carry the stone of Cpl. Tyler P. Wallingford. I went to pick up the stone that night and made sure to stop at the Standish Boat Landing to see the memorial Tyler’s family worked so hard to put up in his honor. Little did any of us know or remember but it was November 2, 2020, exactly one year since the monument was dedicated. No coincidences. Just like I said, the stones pick us and Tyler was showing he was with us.
We knew that trying to complete a marathon would be hard but nothing compared to the challenges Gold Star Families and the Heroes have faced. As part of the marathon ruck, we thought it would be important to recognize these sacrifices and dedicate each mile to a Hero for Veteran’s Day. Our family sat together, with Tyler’s stone, and took time to pick out 26 Heroes and learn their story. It felt right to honor all of Tyler’s fellow Marines as well as members of each branch of the military. Each mile of our ruck was dedicated to one of the Heroes we learned about. Tyler was with us throughout the ruck and his stone took every step with me. The miles really became a struggle around mile 10. It became harder with every step. Again there are no coincidences and mile 13 was the mile dedicated to Cpl. Wallingford. It was as if he was saying I see you and I know how hard you are working but it’s okay if you need to stop. You have pushed hard. We decided to stop at a half-marathon.
For most of the night my husband and I wrestled with our decision. It didn’t feel right to quit a mission that I committed to carry a memorial stone for. We committed to 26.2 miles and decided to finish the marathon the following day. It wasn’t a traditional marathon but we owed those miles and decided to adapt and overcome. We were going to honor the remaining Heroes and finish what we set out to do! I grabbed my ruck and we set out first thing the next day. This time, we brought our kids and attacked the mission as a family. It felt right. We were able to laugh, joke, and enjoy our time. It felt light hearted and fun – not unlike what I imagine Tyler was like. We completed our miles at the Veterans’ Cemetery in Augusta and it was a good chance to say thank you. We shared Tyler’s stone and story with some people we met and that felt good. Every single person smiled at laughed at the naked skydiving story. That energy is just contagious and so much fun!
To wrap up my time with Cpl. Wallingford’s stone, we completed a Hero WOD from Crossfit called “Chad.” This meant doing 1000 weighted step-ups which I did with Tyler’s memorial stone in my ruck. It felt good to do such a meaningful workout while honoring his memory. It really felt like he was there pushing us towards our goals. We had set out to achieve a really tough goal and were able to do so with his support and encouragement. His fearless and fun attitude inspired us to just go for it and chase down the goal. We truly tried to live up to his YOLO mentality and tackle some goals that other people might have seen as crazy. I think he was the perfect partner throughout this week and I am honored to have spent time with him and hope we honored his spirit and fun loving attitude during our time carrying his memorial stone!
Thank you for sharing your Hero with our family.