Veterans walking from Fort Bragg to Camp Lejeune bring awareness to military suicides
A group of 10 local veterans are drawing attention to mental health one step at a time.
They're marching from Fort Bragg to Camp Lejeune to bring focus to preventing suicide within the ranks. Some of the vets are marching for very personal reasons.
Their walk has begun from Fort Bragg to Camp Lejeune and back. The numbers show military suicides are down. However, these walkers will tell you that one death is too many.
The 10 veterans are on a mission that started three years ago. This is a march to bring awareness to suicides among veterans and first responders.
JP Cervantes founded Let's Walk It Out after talking with veterans who said no one understood their pain.
"Two hundred and twenty two miles," said Cervantes. "It's going to be painful. So we want to mimic that pain, even though the mental pain will not go away. Ours will go away with rest and some Motrin, right? We want to mimic that and we added the rucksack because we want to let them know we're carrying the burden with them."
The march started Thursday morning at Charlie Mike's Pub. It will travel along Highway 24 to a turnaround point at the Camp Lejeune gate.
Just about every step is in memory of a service member or first responder who took his or her own life.
"He was at work one day and then he just went home and had dinner with his family and told them goodnight and took his own life in front of his family," said Cervantes of a friend.
The show of support is immediate with people off the streets joining in on the march.
"We were at a Subway along the route and a girl came out and handed us a note and she said thank you for what you are doing because I've had those ideas in the past and I wanted to end my life, but this is amazing that you guys are doing this," said Ryan Oldenburg.
You can follow the group's progress and make donations to support their efforts at their website and Facebook and Instagram pages (@letswalkitout222mileruck).
If you're having suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, call or text 988. Veterans can press “1” after dialing 988 to connect directly to the Veterans Crisis Lifeline. For texts, veterans should continue to text the Veterans Crisis Lifeline short code at 838255.
