Lewis finishes trans-America walk with running Marine
courtesy photo
Brendan O’Toole, left, met up with Ronan’s Chuck Lewis in Virginia. Both Marine veterans are crossing the country by foot to help wounded soldiers.
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VIRGINIA — More than three decades and 27 armed conflicts separate the dates Ronan resident Chuck Lewis and Alexandria, Va. resident Brendan O’Toole served the United States Marine Corps, but on Wednesday the two men had a chance meeting on a Virginia roadway that was part of final legs of separate journeys to raise awareness and funds to help veterans in need.
Lewis set out on foot on March 31 from Everett, Wash. pushing a 150-pound cart decorated with patriotic flags to help raise awareness about veteran mental health. The former Marine Corps veteran said the suicide of a young local man less than a month after he returned home from service motivated Lewis to make the journey.
Unbeknownst to Lewis, O’Toole, 25, had just finished four years of service in the Marine Corps with tours of duty in Afghanistan and Haiti. O’Toole knew of a service member who came home, only to commit suicide. He and a group of friends began an awareness and fundraising campaign that centered around O’Toole running more than 3,600 miles across the United States, with a support crew of friends. O’Toole began his journey on Nov. 11, 2012 in Oceanside, Calif.
As Lewis passed through a town in Virginia at the beginning of last week, a person remarked that he was on TV the night before.
“That seemed strange because no television companies had been in contact with me,” Lewis said.
After a bit of research Lewis was able to find out O’Toole was nearby and the two connected.
“It’s kind of wild that Brendan and Chuck are doing kind of the same thing and as big as America is we just happened to run into each other,” said Joey Dwyer, a friend who is making a documentary about the trip.
Dwyer is one of a handful of support team members under age 30 that O’Toole has that follow him in a truck donated by a dealership. The young group uses social media and the internet to connect with their supporters, which are mostly other young people, Dwyer said. The group set a goal to raise $2 million for veteran’s services, and as of Monday they had raised $161,166. Lewis set a $50,000 goal and had raised $32,325. Lewis said that his primary goal is not a monetary amount, but instead is to raise awareness about the mental health of veterans.
“After looking at how they approached it, they put a lot more thought in it than I did,” Lewis said. “They have a whole team.”
Lewis and O’Toole walked together on Wednesday and Lewis reflected on how interesting it was that he and O’Toole served in the same branch of the military.
“I’ve found where six people are doing this,” Lewis said. “Oddly enough all of them are Marines.”
O’Toole and Lewis had similar experiences on the road that include incredible generosity from people and wild weather that included blizzards, sleet, hail and rain.
“We got hit by a tornado,” Dwyer said. “The truck’s windows were blown out.”
Lewis had to visit the emergency room for kidney stones.
“They have such similar stories,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer planned to walk with Lewis as he arrives in Washington, D.C. today September 25, almost exactly six months after he set out on his journey.
“It’s like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Lewis said Wednesday.
