SANDPOINT — At first there were just a few people. Then, a dozen or so. Finally, 50-plus people were gathered at Travers Park waiting to help Mike Ehredt honor Capt. David Lyon, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2013.

Lyon, who grew up in Sandpoint, was the final soldier honored by Ehredt in his latest long-distance run, stopping after each mile to place a flag on a mural to honor the latest 300 soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq since the war began.

Called Project America III, the run followed the initial run from the Oregon Coast to Maine in 2010 — a 4,424-mile journey — and a follow-up 2,146-mile run from the Canadian border to Galveston, Texas, in 2012 to honor Afghani victims.

As the community gathered on a sunny Memorial Day morning, Ehredt walked from the mural to the park’s trail with a determined stride — ignoring an injury which had him reaching out to running buddies to help complete the run.

“Let’s do this,” he yelled, prompting cheers and applause, and hit the trail in a brisk walk with David Lyon’s parents, Bob and Jeannie Lyon, and his brother, Sean, walking alongside.

Deciding to participate in the walk wasn’t hard, Jeannie Lyon said. After all, Sandpoint was a big part of who David was and Ehredt’s tribute to their son and they wanted to support Ehredt in his latest run to honor America’s soldiers.

“It’s always taken a village to raise a child and I’ve said that before,” she said. “I just love our community and I know David loved our community.”

To honor their son and keep his mission alive, they’ve adopted servicemen aboard a pre-positioning ship named in David Lyon’s honor, they’ve made several visits to the Air Force Academy and adopted servicemen and women their, and they’ve created a scholarship in their son’s name to honor other community-minded servant leaders.

Being a part of the run is just one more way they can continue David’s mission of service, of giving back to the world and making it a better place, Lyon said.

“In these types of ways, we’re continuing David’s mission because we know he’d want everyone to be the very best they can be on any given day and he’d want everyone to know that one man can make a difference,” she said. “You look at Mike. Mike’s one man and he’s making a difference.”

In some ways, the attention is overwhelming, said Bob Lyon, David’s dad, because their son has been honored so many times over the past two-and-a-half years. But the run — and Memorial Day — is a celebration of freedom and those who serve to defend that freedom, he said.

“It’s not just about David, it’s all of those 300 people and it’s this community behind us, these people who live here,” he said. “This is what it’s all about, our freedom.”

Ehredt said doing the latest run was a community project, with different groups stopping in throughout the week to help honor those who died serving their country. On Saturday, after an injury slowed his progress, he put the call out to some running buddies for some assistance — more than 15-20 turned out and carried the load Saturday.

“It’s different when they come with me and carry a flag, but then you give them one and they’re responsible for the next mile, it changes their whole outlook. It’s where instead of ‘I’m doing this with Mike,’ it’s ‘now this is on my shoulders’ and they really got into that.”

At first Ehredt said it was hard, that he almost felt like he was letting those whose names were on the mural down. “I watched him go down the sidewalk and I started to go after him. Then I stopped and it was like those guys on the board were going, ‘Dude, it’s OK. You asked for help. They’re here to help. It’s OK.’ ”

Among others who turned out were a couple of retired Air Force veterans, Sandpoint High School cheerleaders and Sandpoint Middle School students. There were family friends, teachers, community residents who wanted to show their support for both Ehredt, the soldiers and the Lyon family.

As the runners and walkers reached the mural, flags waving gently around an outline of the United States, Ehredt thanked the servicemen and women who have served and those who support them.

“As I look at these flags, red, white and blue, throughout our generations, sacrifices have been made,” he told those gathered. “We wouldn’t be standing here now and I think we all know that, without the sacrifices of every generation that has come before us and will come after us. The threads in the flag are woven with the blood, sweat and tears of those generations.

“We thank you all. We thank them all. We never forget, never forget.”