x
Breaking News
More () »

Marine walking across America for wounded veterans arrives in East Tennessee

Retired Gunnery Sgt. Roy Wesley Brady, Jr. is on a cross-country mission to raise money and awareness to help veterans who suffer from both the visible and invisible wounds of combat.

A retired Marine made his way through East Tennessee on a journey of thousands of miles across America to call attention to the struggles wounded veterans face.

Retired Gunnery Sgt. Roy Wesley Brady Jr. served his country for 22 years and 15 days in the United States Marine Corps.

Since his retirement, he's taken up a new mission as a volunteer and has been walking across America from California to New Jersey since March to raise awareness and donations to help combat wounded and mentally wounded veterans as part of the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge.

"I want to focus on spreading awareness to communities and every town that I go to saying this is a serious issue," he said. " My goal is to focus on all branches of service, all military members from any war era to this day that deals with PTSD, trying to prevent suicide for our combat veterans."

After nearly 2,200 miles of walking, Brady made his way down Kingston Pike toward Farragut Tuesday afternoon, carrying a rucksack with the U.S. Marine Corps flag draped over it.

As summer humidity and temps rose back into the 90s Tuesday, a kind soul tracked Brady down to bring him something to drink.

Brady's journey hasn't been an easy one since he stepped off from Oceanside, Ca. in March, but it's a trek he's familiar with. This is his second time making the cross-country walk, but with a reverse route. In 2015 he walked from North Carolina to California.

The journey is deeply personal for Brady. As he makes his way east this time, he will pass through Bristol toward Quantico, Va. to visit his brother's grave, an Army Major who committed suicide. Brady's walk is called the "Major Walk Across America" in honor of his brother.

He'll then head to Trenton, N.J. to visit the grave of Tommy Simpson, a Marine brother and friend who also took his life.

"Some come home with visible wounds, and some come home looking fine. But things like Traumatic Brain Injuries and Post Traumatic Stress aren’t visible," Brady said in his GoFundMe page, which has raised more than $11,000 of its original $4,000 goal to support his journey and the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge. "TBI and PTS can wreak havoc on the mental state of our service members, leading to divorce, drug/alcohol addiction, trouble with law enforcement, and suicidal tendencies."

Brady has roughly 700 miles of walking ahead of him and it's expected he'll complete his journey by October. If you'd like to support Brady's journey and help his cause, there are plenty of donation options to choose from on his Major Walk Across America page.

Before You Leave, Check This Out