GORUCK founders reflect on 9/11 and their path to service for the 25th anniversary

The founders of Jacksonville-based GORUCK are reflecting on how that day changed their lives and inspired a commitment to service.

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the founders of Jacksonville-based GORUCK are reflecting on how that day changed their lives and inspired a commitment to service.

Jason McCarthy was 22 years old and living in Daytona Beach when he watched the attacks unfold on television.

“I watched the second plane hit the second tower and, man, like everything changed,” McCarthy said.

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Emily McCarthy was working her first job out of college in Washington, D.C., when she learned the Pentagon had been attacked.

“Someone yelled from the window there’s a plane hitting the Pentagon,” she recalled.

The attacks marked what Emily McCarthy described as a “loss of innocence” and eventually put both of them on a path to serve their country.

Emily McCarthy became a CIA case officer, while Jason McCarthy became a Green Beret.

During their years of service, the two developed the idea that would eventually become GORUCK. The company was founded in 2008, and their military careers eventually brought them back to Jacksonville, where they now operate the business. 

GORUCK sells backpacks, rucksacks, clothing, footwear and fitness equipment designed for rucking and outdoor use. They are also known for rucking events, which challenge participants to carry heavy loads over long distances while working together and building camaraderie.

But every Sept. 11, the weight carried by participants takes on a deeper meaning.

GORUCK has held 9/11 commemorative events in New York City since 2011. Participants carry weighted packs together, share stories about Sept. 11 and move as a group to honor those who were killed and those who served in the aftermath of the attacks.

For Jason McCarthy, the anniversary remains difficult.

“Every year it comes, you just have to kind of deal with it,” he said.

He said his initial response to the attacks was anger.

“I signed up for revenge, and that’s not a super healthy place to live,” Jason McCarthy said.

Over time, he said that anger evolved into a commitment to service and the people around him.

For the GORUCK founders, the enduring legacy of Sept. 11 is not just about remembering the attacks, but remembering the service, sacrifice and bonds that followed.

“That’s the enduring legacy of what 9/11 was and what it is,” Jason McCarthy said. “That’s what we want to remember.”