On the eve of Veterans Day, one combat veteran put on his walking shoes and hit the highway early Tuesday morning for a hike of more than double the length of a marathon in hopes of raising awareness about veteran suicide. According to the Veterans Administration, an average of 22 U.S. veterans commit suicide every day. When Army infantry officer and West Point graduate Travis Featherstone completed a military career that included 14 months in Afghanistan, he had a strong support system of family and friends to ease his transition to civilian life. Unfortunately, two of his former brothers in arms weren’t so lucky and eventually took their own lives.
Featherstone, was walking approximately 57 miles from the Hawkins County Courthouse to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Mountain Home in Johnson City. Every 22 paces Tuesday, either Featherstone or his walking companion Ben Lindley stopped and planted a 4-by-6-inch American flag in the ground, representing a fellow veteran who took his or her own life. The trail of flags is along Highway 11-W from Rogersville to Kingsport and along Interstate 26 from Kingsport to the VA. Aside from raising awareness about veteran suicide, Featherstone wants this walk to be a tribute to his two friends who took their own lives. “This is to bring awareness to the East Tennessee area and to our local VA that there’s always more that we can do for veterans,” he told the Times-News during his walk Tuesday. Read More