Marine Mom’s Ironman in Combat Boots Became a Mission to Honor the Fallen

When Amy Cotta’s teenage son told her he wanted to join the Marine Corps, her first answer was “no.”

Cotta signed the paperwork, but watching her son leave for boot camp triggered anxiety she struggled to manage. Eventually, she bought a pair of steel-toe Marine Corps combat boots and began wearing them everywhere. What began as a mother’s attempt to cope with her son’s military service eventually led her to complete an Ironman triathlon while honoring 21 fallen service members. It also became the foundation for Memories of Honor, a national nonprofit dedicated to remembering those who died in service and supporting the families they left behind.

It was 2011, and Americans were still dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. Cotta came from a military family and understood what her son Tyler was asking. He was 17 and had already decided he wanted to serve. But he needed her signature to enlist.

“I knew that he was wired to be that person that would do whatever he had to do to save the lives of the people around him,” Cotta told Military.com during an interview in October. “And although I understand that … as a mom, that’s the last thing you want to think about.”

She sent him upstairs to reconsider. He came back with the same answer.

What began as a mother’s attempt to cope with her son’s military service eventually led her to complete an Ironman triathlon while honoring 21 fallen service members. It also became the foundation for Memories of Honor, a national nonprofit dedicated to remembering those who died in service and supporting the families they left behind.

Finding Purpose in a Pair of Combat Boots

Cotta never intended to become an endurance athlete on a mission to honor fallen troops. In fact, she’s quick to poke fun at her running abilities.

“I’m a show up, don’t die, get it done shuffler,” she said.

She started by walking in the boots, wearing them around town and even pairing them with an evening gown. Eventually, she entered a 5K.

Other runners noticed the unusual footwear and stopped to ask questions. The conversations gave her opportunities to talk about her son and what military families experience when someone they love leaves for service.

The 5K led to half-marathons and eventually 50-kilometer races. She added a weighted military pack to make the events more physically demanding.

“There was comfort in the discomfort,” Cotta said, explaining that the physical challenge gave her somewhere to direct the fear and uncertainty surrounding her son’s service.

As she kept running, she began meeting veterans and families who had lost loved ones.

One friend had lost 13 teammates. Wanting to do something meaningful for him, Cotta began asking surviving families for permission to carry photographs of their loved ones attached to her pack during races.

Soon, there were more names and faces than she had originally planned to carry.

One of those service members was Army Sgt. Anthony Del Mar Peterson, a 24-year-old Oklahoma National Guardsman who was killed in Afghanistan Aug. 4, 2011.

Peterson’s mother, Tara, told Cotta that her son had always wanted to complete an Ironman triathlon. He never had the chance, so Cotta decided to do one in his honor.

There was just one complication: She had only recently learned to swim.

An Ironman for a Fallen Soldier

On Sept. 28, 2014, Cotta participated in the inaugural Ironman Chattanooga in Tennessee.

The full-distance race included a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a 26.2-mile run. For the marathon portion, Cotta put on her combat boots and carried her weighted pack, now covered with photographs of Peterson and 20 other fallen service members.

The race also fell on Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, the annual observance honoring mothers and families who have lost loved ones in military service. For Cotta, finishing meant more than the usual accomplishment of completing an Ironman.

Afterward, she prepared to mail her finisher’s medal to Peterson’s mother.

“It wasn’t mine; it was Anthony’s,” she said.

Then, she started thinking about the other 20 families represented on her pack. If she could persuade fellow athletes to donate their medals, perhaps those families could receive something, too.

Within three hours of asking, Cotta said she had enough donated medals to send to every family. She noted that she even had to turn away additional offers.

The idea quickly grew. Between September 2014 and September 2015, Cotta said she mailed more than 150 packages to surviving military families, connecting them with athletes who wanted to dedicate their accomplishments to fallen service members.

She formalized the effort as a nonprofit in 2015, initially establishing the organization as Medals of Honor. The tribute sparked a multiyear racing career for Cotta, who went on to compete in six triathlons, a mix of full-distance Ironman and half-distance Ironman 70.3 races. She frequently tackled the running portions in the combat boots and weighted military rucksack.

Now known as Memories of Honor, the Franklin, Tennessee-based organization has spent more than a decade using athletics, music, public memorials and community events to keep fallen service members’ names and stories in the public eye.

Nearly 8,000 Boots, Each Representing a Life

One of Memories of Honor’s largest undertakings is the Boots of Honor Memorial, a display of 7,970 individual combat boots honoring service members who died while serving since the 9/11 attacks.

The memorial predates Cotta’s organization. Created in 2012 by military spouse Theresa Johnson in memory of Army Pfc. Timothy R. Vimoto, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2007, the memorial remained on military installations for years before Memories of Honor assumed responsibility for its care.

In May 2026, the nonprofit brought the traveling memorial into public view at Bicentennial Park in Franklin for its inaugural display, allowing visitors to walk among the boots and see the names and photographs of the people they represent.

Cotta said the organization plans to expand the memorial to include losses before Sept. 11, 2001, and additional noncombat deaths.

Maintaining the display requires considerable work. Staff must inventory, store and prepare each boot for public exhibition. The organization has also invested in replacement boots, identification cards and a searchable online database where families can share their loved ones’ stories.

Cotta estimated that preserving and presenting the memorial costs approximately $50,000 annually.

The organization funds its work through donations and events, including the annual Boot Bash, a Nashville-area fundraiser, featuring country singer Darryl Worley and Navy veteran musician Brooks Herring for its 2026 lineup.

The Sept. 24 event initially raised $73,615, according to a Memories of Honor press release featured on FranklinIs, a local news website in Franklin, with additional donations arriving afterward.

Memories of Honor also runs the Music Remembers Project, which provides surviving families with custom-engraved guitars and brings veteran songwriters and families together to create music about their loved ones.

Cotta described one songwriting session featuring Herring and Dennis Leftrick, a father whose son, Army Spc. Benjamin Leftrick, died by suicide. She said the two connected through their experiences of military service and loss, eventually creating a song titled “I’m Good.”

The project offers another way for families to share memories that might otherwise remain unheard.

Remembering Them After Everyone Else Has Gone Home

Cotta’s son, Tyler, remains as a Marine Corps staff sergeant, and his wife also serves on active duty as a Marine Corps sergeant.

During the October interview, Cotta said she had not seen her son in person for two years because of the demands of military life.

She misses him, but the relationships she has developed with surviving families have given her a different perspective on that separation.

“I don’t get to see my son and his family as much as I’d like to, but I have that privilege,” she said.

For Gold Star families, she explained, the hardest moments often come long after the funeral, when friends and neighbors return to their routines and the calls gradually stop.

“The silence becomes deafening,” Cotta added.

She encourages veterans to contact the families of fallen friends, share stories from their time together, and talk about the ordinary moments that shaped those service members.

Families don’t necessarily need someone to ask about the circumstances of a death. Sometimes, Cotta said, they simply want to hear a funny story about their loved one or be invited out for coffee.

It’s also why she believes remembrance cannot be limited to Memorial Day.

Since her first 5K, Cotta has watched an individual effort to manage her own fears grow into a network of athletes, musicians, volunteers and military families working to ensure the names and sacrifices of fallen service members are never forgotten.

Her message for Americans approaching another Veterans Day is to keep showing up for the people who have lost someone, even when the ceremonies are over.

“Let’s not just show up for the funeral and for the parades,” Cotta said. “Let’s show up every single day for these families, even if it’s something as simple as sharing something on social media.”

For information on the nonprofit’s programs, volunteer opportunities or the Boots of Honor Memorial, visit Memories of Honor.