The parents of a fallen Marine are getting ready to lace up their running shoes in honor of their son, 21-year-old Corporal Spencer Collart, who was killed in an Osprey crash in Australia in August 2023..
“When I get frustrated I just kind of imagine him running next to me and with me,” said his father, Bart Collart.
With every step, he says he feels closer to his son.
“We’re just doing whatever we can to talk about him, to remember him,” he said.
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And more than a year after he was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, his parents are honoring him by running in the Marine Corps Marathon.
“When it actually clicked, it was fairly soon after Spencer’s funeral, and I don’t know why I just felt that I had to do something for him, to kind of honor him,” his father said.
“He hates running. I couldn’t believe it when he said he was going to run,” said Alexia Collart, Spencer Collart’s mother. “It’s 26.2 miles, I’m going to do the 10K and he’s going to do the full 26.2.”
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The Collarts sat down with News4 at their Arlington home ahead of their big race weekend to talk about their son’s legacy.
“He’s inspired us, and we’re doing our best to keep moving forward and remember him while moving forward and to live life,” his father said.
“That was what he would want,” said his mother. “He would not want us to not be living our lives and to be sad. I know he would want us to be out there doing things.”
And as their family finds the strength to move forward, they’re turning their pain into purpose..
Bart Collart is running through Team Taps, raising $8,000 for the nonprofit focused on providing resources for grieving families of fallen service members.
Survivors say the Washington Liberty High School graduate died a hero trying to save his fellow marines.
His proud parents say that was just a small part of who he was.
“He’s a knucklehead,” Alexia Collart said.
“He was only 21, and everybody talks about what a hero he was and he was,” Bart Collart said. “He was just an amazing kid. He loved his job and his corps and everything he was doing, but the fun thing for us is remembering the little knucklehead moments. He could be really silly and he would be a lot of fun.”
He says it’s those fun memories that will carry him across the finish line.
“We feel like he’s watching somehow,” Alexia Collart said.
