Army 1st Lt. Ashley White-Stumpf,
a Kent State University graduate who
was killed in action in Kandahar,
Afghanistan, on Oct. 22, 2011, will
be honored through a 5K run, book
release and a Hollywood movie.

Army 1st Lt. Ashley White-Stumpf always had a smile on her face. Those who knew her will never forget the tenderness and incredible strength behind it.

White-Stumpf graduated from Kent State University and was commissioned as an Army officer through Kent State’s Army ROTC in 2009. She was killed in action in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Oct. 22, 2011.

Watch a video about White-Stumpf.

“She was physically fit beyond anybody,” says Kent State’s ROTC Operations Officer Joe Paydock. “She was also so pleasant, so easy going, so wonderful to be around, just a dynamite smile and just a dynamite personality.”

That perfect combination placed White-Stumpf on a Cultural Support Team (CST), made up exclusively of women who gather intelligence, conduct searches of Afghan women and children, build relationships with them and break down cultural barriers. The elite team is attached to Army Rangers and Special Forces that search Afghan villages. White-Stumpf would perform duties that male soldiers could not without offending Afghans.

“Physically, she was more than capable of handling it, and yet her compassion and softness was the perfect match for dealing with these women and children,” Paydock says.

But in 2011, White-Stumpf became the first CST soldier killed in combat when the assault force she was with triggered an improvised explosive device (IED).

“It took my breath away,” Paydock remembers. “It was tragic, tragic.”

But out of the tragedy, new life is emerging.

An account of her experience, Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield, is coming out April 21. The book will serve as the premise for an upcoming Hollywood movie, possibly starring actress Reese Witherspoon.

A few days prior to the book release, on April 18, the fourth annual WhiteHot 5K kicks off at 8 a.m. at Kent State. The event, which honors White-Stumpf, is hosted by Kent State’s Department of Military Sciences. There is a $25 registration fee. Runners can show up the day of the race or sign up online.

“It’s a tribute to a wonderful young lady who gave her life for the cause of this country and did an amazing mission,” Paydock says.

The money raised goes toward scholarships that are awarded to outstanding students in the Kent State ROTC.

Paydock says White-Stumpf would be embarrassed over all the attention, but he is glad her service and sacrifice is now captured in a book that could one day play out on the big screen.

“This is an amazing story, a fascinating story, a thrilling story that I think the public will want to hear more about,” Paydock says. “The way that things are going these days with American Sniper and some other war movies, I think the market is ready for it.”