WEBVTT 00:02.194 --> 00:05.027 (slow jazz music) 00:05.470 --> 00:07.553 - April 3rd of this year, 00:08.021 --> 00:11.072 I stepped off from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina 00:11.072 --> 00:13.592 on a mission that I call The Hump, 00:13.592 --> 00:15.716 in First Sergeant Ed Smith's honor. 00:15.716 --> 00:19.360 He was Fox Two Five, and he was detached to us 00:19.360 --> 00:21.860 when he was tragically killed. 00:22.112 --> 00:24.980 ^I've walked all the way here to Pendleton, California 00:24.980 --> 00:27.897 ^to be at my old unit, Third Tracks. 00:28.394 --> 00:29.227 It's the longest journey. 00:29.227 --> 00:33.394 I've been taking care of veterans, first responders, nurses, 00:34.391 --> 00:35.947 active duty military, you know? 00:35.947 --> 00:37.693 Anything I can do to kind of lighten the load 00:37.693 --> 00:39.402 or help to pay it forward. 00:39.402 --> 00:40.235 That's what we do. 00:40.235 --> 00:41.068 I've fed. 00:41.068 --> 00:44.985 I checked yesterday, I've fed over 1,032 people 00:45.359 --> 00:48.192 along this journey at all the VAs. 00:48.967 --> 00:50.447 I'm also doing it more than anything 00:50.447 --> 00:53.404 just to bring awareness to veterans, 00:53.404 --> 00:56.284 and let them know, and first responders, 00:56.284 --> 00:58.793 let them know that your nonprofits exist 00:58.793 --> 00:59.863 for you to utilize. 00:59.863 --> 01:00.696 You know? 01:00.845 --> 01:03.896 And so many of us, and I'm guilty of it, 01:03.896 --> 01:05.271 get out and we think you have to be 01:05.271 --> 01:07.855 severely disabled, or you have to have 01:07.855 --> 01:09.486 severe PTSD or something, 01:09.486 --> 01:10.778 to benefit from a nonprofit, 01:10.778 --> 01:11.805 and that's just not the case. 01:11.805 --> 01:13.972 We want you to come to us. 01:14.060 --> 01:16.568 If we can't help you, we'll find somebody that can. 01:16.568 --> 01:19.830 And two, it reconnects you with your brothers 01:19.830 --> 01:20.811 and your sisters. 01:20.811 --> 01:22.152 You know the people that run these 01:22.152 --> 01:23.961 military nonprofits are veterans, 01:23.961 --> 01:26.996 and you get that comradarie that you miss so much 01:26.996 --> 01:28.413 when you get out. 01:28.416 --> 01:30.043 And so I want the veterans to know that. 01:30.043 --> 01:32.050 This is first and foremost to bring awareness 01:32.050 --> 01:34.298 to the veterans to get out there and utilize 01:34.298 --> 01:35.163 your nonprofits. 01:35.163 --> 01:37.094 Get out there and volunteer for your VAs. 01:37.094 --> 01:39.184 And its to let your civilian sector know too, 01:39.184 --> 01:43.217 it doesn't cost a thing to go a VA and volunteer. 01:43.217 --> 01:47.384 I remember very specifically in Iraq telling myself, 01:47.950 --> 01:50.515 "Man, if I make it back, or when I make it back, 01:50.515 --> 01:51.938 "I want to see this country. 01:51.938 --> 01:54.416 "I want to see what I'm fighting for." 01:54.416 --> 01:56.750 I didn't think I'd be doing it by foot, of course. 01:56.750 --> 01:59.200 But after I met a World War II Marine Corps veteran, 01:59.200 --> 02:02.509 Palau, Guadalcanal, Okinawa, Cape Gloucester 02:02.509 --> 02:04.926 by the name of Harvey Bergen, 02:05.426 --> 02:07.675 I knew immediately what I wanted to do. 02:07.675 --> 02:11.363 He gave me such a sense of pride of being a Marine 02:11.363 --> 02:13.444 and what that EGA stands for. 02:13.444 --> 02:15.401 Just telling me the stories at his kitchen table. 02:15.401 --> 02:16.234 You know? 02:16.402 --> 02:17.635 I knew I had to share that. 02:17.635 --> 02:20.603 I had to share that feeling that he gave to me 02:20.603 --> 02:22.865 because it was such a powerful, powerful 02:22.865 --> 02:24.698 and honorable feeling. 02:25.410 --> 02:28.993 So, I said, I will kick it off on April 3rd 02:29.403 --> 02:31.665 in memory of First Sergeant Smith, 02:31.665 --> 02:33.681 and I'm just going to walk from Marine Corps base 02:33.681 --> 02:35.431 to Marine Corps base. 02:37.567 --> 02:39.293 If there is anything that can come out of this, 02:39.293 --> 02:41.516 I would hope that Marines understand that 02:41.516 --> 02:43.405 before anything reach out to your nonprofits. 02:43.405 --> 02:44.525 Reach out to your brother. 02:44.525 --> 02:47.275 Reach out to who you served with. 02:47.393 --> 02:48.956 That's the thing that's going to get you past 02:48.956 --> 02:50.623 any kind of problem. 02:51.677 --> 02:53.466 Every Marine that I've met along the way, 02:53.466 --> 02:55.311 we got each other's backs, no matter what. 02:55.311 --> 02:56.769 We could be at a bar in Istanbul. 02:56.769 --> 02:57.658 If there's a Marine in there, 02:57.658 --> 02:59.467 I know I've got family in there, 02:59.467 --> 03:00.946 because that's probably where a Marine is 03:00.946 --> 03:03.363 going to find another Marine. 03:03.967 --> 03:05.585 Just remember honor, courage and commitment 03:05.585 --> 03:07.745 doesn't stop the day we get out. 03:07.745 --> 03:09.727 That's a service to your brother and your sister 03:09.727 --> 03:11.894 for the rest of your life. 03:12.813 --> 03:15.646 (slow jazz music)