Running the Course They Shared
Captain Jack Casey, USMC, had a way of making himself the center of the room.
For his wife, Emma Lindberg, it is his stories she remembers most. Jack was confident, hilarious, and captivating, with an ability to grab anyone’s attention when he began to tell a story.
Emma and Jack were married for just over a year before he was killed on 7 February 2024 while flying a CH-53 during a training mission in California. Jack was an H-53 pilot, and the Marine Corps Marathon was part of his story long before it became part of Emma’s.
In 2019, while Jack was at Officer Candidates School at Quantico, he ran the Marine Corps Marathon.
“He said he’d rather run it than work it, so that’s what he did,” Emma says.
Emma ran the MCM herself for the first time in 2025, without the wear blue team. When she reached the Tribute wear blue Mile, she saw Jack’s poster among the Faces of the Fallen.
That experience stayed with her.
“I would love to do it again with a larger support system,” Emma says.
This year, Emma is returning to the MCM through the Gold Star & Survivor Endurance Program, giving her the opportunity to represent Jack on the same course he ran.
“Being able to represent Jack and run the same course he did when we first met in 2019 makes me feel closer to him,” she says.
Running has become an outlet for Emma. It helps relieve stress and makes her feel more grounded, while also giving her another connection to Jack.
That connection follows her into her work, too.
Emma works as an aerospace engineer at MCAS Cherry Point, where she works on H-53, H-1, and V-22 rotor blades. Because Jack flew the H-53, working on the helicopter blades gives Emma a way to feel close to him.
“I find myself constantly wishing I could tell him about my work and different challenges I’m encountering,” she says.
Losing Jack has also changed how Emma approaches her work. Before his death, she considered safety as part of her job. Now, she thinks about the people behind that responsibility.
“Now when I work on helicopter blades, I really consider what is safe and how it can affect Marines and their families if I don’t do my job thoroughly.”
That perspective is part of the legacy Emma carries with her as a Surviving spouse.
“It means carrying Jack’s legacy with me and keeping his memory alive. It means living my life to the fullest because his ended too early.”
Training for a marathon is now another part of how Emma lives that out. She treats her training like a second job, making space for her runs in an already full schedule.
“These runs are a part of my schedule now, and I make time for them however I can.”
Through wear blue, Emma has also found people who understand a part of her life that others cannot.
“It makes me feel less alone,” she says. “Hearing other Gold Star and Surviving family members talk about their loved ones makes you realize that you’re not the only one that this has happened to. We’re all navigating these hardships together.”
This October, Emma will run the Marine Corps Marathon with Jack's memory beside her, on the same course where he ran in 2019.
She will represent the man whose stories still make her smile, the Marine whose work she encounters in her own, and the husband whose legacy she is determined to carry forward.
