You could call San Diego Jon Tumilson's second hometown.
The Iowa native lived in San Diego for about eight years before moving back East to become a member of SEAL Team 6. The same team that hunted down and killed 9/11 terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden.
"We're immensely proud of him, and we just couldn't say how much he's done for us,"said friend Orlanda Vance.
On Tuesday, hundreds of friends gathered at Mission Bay for a special tribute to the Navy SEAL by running around Fiesta Island.
"He loved to run," said friend Kimmie Rouse.
On August 6, Tumilson, 35, was killed with 21 other Navy SEALs when their Chinook helicopter was brought down by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
"Several of us have talked about the fact that if you told him you don't go on that helicopter and you can live another 30 or 40 years, he'd have jumped on it anyway,"said friend Mike Rouse.
Tumilson will be buried in his hometown of Rockford, Iowa this Friday.
