Ruck to Live 2023

On Saturday (September 23^rd), I attended the Ruck to Live in Brighton, Michigan.  This was my second year attending.  I went with a group of people who were fans and have become friends after meeting on Twitter, then in real life.  I can’t encourage you enough to go to events and meet your mutuals in real life.

The Ruck to Live is put on by a great organization called Veterans Connected.  Check them out at the link under their name.  They are 100% supported via community donations and have given out over $500,000 in aid to veterans.   They are a worthy cause and should be supported.

The event was also supported by the Brighton Police and fire departments, with several firefighters in full gear doing the course with us.  The people of Brighton were great hosts, and we were greeted by supportive honking, shouts of thanks from the residents, and plenty of the local dog folk were out to share doggie hugs with us at corners. If you know anything about Brighton, it’s that it’s the most dog friendly town in Michigan with most restaurants allowing dogs.  One woman even dragged a massive cooler into the street to hand out water bottles.  Amazing folks.

The course was an 8 Mile ruck throughout the town.  Each mile, we stopped to honor the memory of a veteran who took their own life, in the hopes that someone will know there is always help.  It is reported that after last year’s ruck, 3 veterans came forward and lives were saved.  Don’t pass out hotlines, go knock on the doors of your veteran friends and talk face to face or call them yourself.  It has more of an impact than you know.

There are many who will attest that I will pick up the phone at 3 AM and talk you through the long dark night even for total strangers from Twitter.  There are many of us who will.  Be there for each other, which is the point of this walk. 

This one hit me right in the feels at Mile One.  The first memorial stop was at a retirement home.  As I made my way to the water table, I saw this old man struggling his way out of the retirement home in his walker, struggling to hurry so as not to miss it.  Many of you know how I feel about old folks, and especially old veterans, so I rushed over to help get him to the front row.  He was dressed up nicely in a sportscoat and was wearing his US Air Force hat.  This is the ONE TIME I didn’t make an Air Force joke, and that’s a big deal.  We delayed the memorial to let him get up front. 

Both the first and second stop were dedicated to two brothers who both took their own lives within 3 months of each other.  Think about that.  That really hits home.  Their mother was at the second stop and after reading the memorial, lots of the group loved on her and hugged her.  What an emotional moment, and if anyone tells you they had dry eyes there they are lying to you.

As the walk wore on, the pain set in, but no one dropped out, because we ALL wanted to get to the next marker, hear the next story, and honor the next veteran.  Yes, giving up a Saturday morning to haul a 30-pound ruck for 8 miles when I didn’t have to sucked, but it HAD to be done.  The thing is, you don’t know who signed up for that ruck because they were struggling and wanted to spend a few hours walking and talking with people who might understand.  You don’t know who, at the end, seeing everyone grieve over lost lives, might say “Hey, bro, I need some help.”  So, we ruck on.  Not for ourselves, but FOR EACH OTHER.

As we neared the finish line, one of the young men behind us was playing music on a Bluetooth speaker. The song that was playing right then was “I Was Only 19”, an OUTSTANDING and moving Australian Vietnam War song, featured in the movie Danger Close. It was the perfect song, because it contains this section about the things the stories never tell:

And the ANZAC legends didn’t mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real

While a group of us met there and went to lunch after, as the ruck progressed, we spread out through the crowd to mingle and meet new folks and check on each other, as did every other group there.  That’s the veteran connection in action; it’s just what we all naturally do.  I made new friendships, gave and received a lot of inter-service ribbing and had a great time.  That’s the point. 

After the event, I met with Board Member Brandyn Mickus.  I committed to helping promote next year’s event by having him on my channel several times before the next event.

An interesting fact was presented during the closing ceremony.  The “22 lives a day” statistic is outdated.  The current statistic is 42 a day.  42. Every. Single. Day.  Pick up your phone and call your people and check on them. Today.

You’ll notice that I didn’t include any ads in this article.  That’s because this is too important to distract from.  Call people. Any ads you see in this article are from WordPress, not me, BTW.

Check on each other.

To the fallen: Til Valhalla.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14