Our Philosophy

When a United States military service member is killed in action, missing in action, held prisoner of war, or is disabled in the line of military service, two tragedies occur: The first is the loss or disabling of the individual, and the second is the resulting parentless childhood endured by the service member’s offspring. The child must now grow up lacking the same parental, monetary, and emotional support normal in a two-parent household.

1 Day for the K.I.A. helps solve these problems and accomplishes our mission primarily through our Living Legacy Scholarship. Because the child is so uniquely similar to their parent, not only biologically but also in terms of personal and familial values, we regard them to be the continuation of their parent. By facilitating the academic and professional growth of their child, we are keeping alive the fallen/disabled service member. Through the same rationale, this scholarship has also been made available to the siblings of our fallen. Lastly, we additionally accomplish this mission by holding several awareness and remembrance events through the year.

Living Legacy Scholarship

The Living Legacy Scholarship is an endowment given yearly to an undergraduate or graduate student at The Ohio State University who has had a relative negatively affected by their military service. Recipients may qualify for being impacted by the following situations as defined by the Department of Defense in the following order: KIA, MIA, POW, and Disability. We primarily raise money for the Living Legacy Scholarship through a 5K in the Fall and a 12 Hour Ultramarathon in the Spring, as well as donations from our generous supporters.

Why?

We are a student organization composed of military-affiliated OSU students trying to make a positive difference in our world. As our project leadership consists of ROTC cadets and/or are from military families, the concept of death in the line of duty is very real to us. 1 Day for the K.I.A. and the resulting Living Legacy Scholarship is our gift to those who have sacrificed for the freedom of the United States.

As they are no longer with us, we commemorate their life by looking after what carries a parent’s strongest essence: their child. Secondarily, we hope this philanthropy reiterates the military’s deeply forged principle of looking after one another. We want to remind current service members that in the event something unfortunate did happen, there are programs, and most importantly, people, who will be there to take care of their families.

THE MILITARY & THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Unbeknownst to most people, Ohio State and the United States military have a long uniting history. Since its inception, over 900 alumni have been confirmed as Killed in Action in our nation's conflicts. Ohio State is also one of the few universities nationwide to have R.O.T.C's of all three branches on campus: Air Force, Army, and Navy. Also, every year, these programs commission approximately 60 Second Lieutenants and Ensigns into the United States military.

In 1916, Colonel Converse [U.S. Army] first proposed the idea of students receiving military officer training while also earning their undergraduate degree. This program, which became known as R.O.T.C. [Reserve Officer Training Corps], was first implemented at Ohio State. The current R.O.T.C. building, Converse Hall, is named in his honor.  Now, almost a century later, R.O.T.C. has spread to all three branches of the military and at universities all across the nation. 

To date, over 6,000 military service members have been killed in the war on terror leaving over 8,000 children without their mother or father. The number of disabled veterans is far higher.

2018 - 2021

YEAR by YEAR GROWTH

Over the past 4 years, with the exception of an entirely virtual 5K due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, 1 Day For The K.I.A. has been constantly growing. With your continued support, we can support our mission to commemorate fallen servicemembers by positively impacting their children or other relatives with the Living Legacy Scholarship.