Local veteran nearing end of cross-country walk
courtesy photo
The red line shows how far Sgt. Chuck Lewis has walked since he left Everett, Washington on Easter Sunday. Lewis has about a month more of walking before he reaches Washington, D.C., and hopes to raise $18,000 more for veterans programs.
courtesy photo
Walking for the Fallen is a cross-country effort by Ronan Marine veteran Chuck Lewis to raise awareness of and funding for veterans' programs.
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After five months of walking, Sgt. Chuck Lewis crossed into the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee Sunday, ready to tackle the final leg of a more than 3,300-mile walking journey to raise awareness about veteran’s mental health.
Lewis, a Ronan native and Vietnam era and Marine Corps veteran, set out from Everett, Washington on Easter weekend with a 150-pound cart decorated with a variety of military and patriotic flags.
His walk was spurred in part by the suicide of a young local veteran last year, less than a month after he returned home. Lewis began looking at statistics and found that more active duty soldiers assigned to the Afghan and Iraq Wars had committed suicide than died in combat.
“That was only the active duty ones,” Lewis said; the number does not reflect suicides by young soldiers recently separated from service or older veterans who have taken their own life.
The Carnegie-Knight News21 program, housed at the Walter-Cronkite School of Journalism in Arizona, released a comprehensive tally of veteran suicides on Aug. 23. The study found the veteran suicide rate is twice that of the civilian rate nationally. Montana has the highest rate of veteran suicides between 2005 and 2011 by far, with 55.9 per 100,000 people. Montana veteran suicides also make up the highest proportion of any state in the nation, with 26.43 percent of the statewide total.
The people Lewis has met along the way are often familiar with the problem. They sometimes come up to him crying because they or their family members have lived through post-war trauma. Lewis said he’s not great at handling the crying people, but he still listens to them and visits with them.
“I never imagined people would react the way the have,” Lewis said.
People sometimes approach Lewis with donations or drive out of their way to meet him. He has spoken at schools and veterans centers throughout his journey. Along the way, people and organizations have helped him find places to stay.
As the journey winds down Lewis has raised $32,000 toward a $50,000 goal that will go to organizations that serve veterans. The donations aren’t solicited. People give of their own accord. He’s not sure he will hit the $50,000 mark, but said he counts any amount raised as a victory.
The Smokey Mountains are the last major geographical obstacle before Lewis hits flatter land that leads to Washington, D.C.
“If you call these mountains, you’ve never been to Montana before, or lived in California or Colorado,” Lewis joked.
The mountains are tall enough to cause a bit of a headache pushing the cart, but after walking through snow, sleet and mud, Lewis is accustomed to the challenge. He is on his third pair of running shoes, after he wore holes in the first two pairs.
Lewis’s trip is taking a more southerly dip than previously anticipated. He will visit a friend he served with who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.
“It’s only two weeks out of the way,” Lewis said.
Although he’s focusing on the rest of the journey, he also has plans for continuing to participate in patriotism programs in local schools once he returns. He believes it is important for students to be educated about men and women in uniform.
“There is really only one percent of people in this country willing to risk their safety for all of us and those are our servicemen and women, police officers, and firefighters,” Lewis said.
