Letter to the Editor 08/27/2014

To the Editor:

Re: "Veterans 'Walk Off The War' on the trail," The Nugget, August 20, page 3: Kudos to all, especially those trail angels that so often go unnamed.

My brother and I were going to do something like this when we ended our duty in the late '60s. It wasn't to be; he was killed in action in Vietnam. He was my kid brother and the promise to hike the Appalachian Trail with him haunted me for years.

In 2007, my wonderful wife, Jane, convinced me that I should go do it in his honor, so I did. I put his Purple Heart medal in my belly bag, and off we went. As usual, things didn't go as planned and after 600 miles, I left the trail for a six-artery heart bypass. Three hundred days later, after a full recovery, I returned to the trail and finished hiking all 2,176 miles.

I admire what you folks did in this article; the public doesn't realize what a challenge a long hike like this is, nor how cathartic it can be. One point that you mentioned that is so important to GIs when they return is to realize how many good people there are in this world. I recall coming home on emergency leave when my brother was killed, and I had people spitting at me going through a major airport. I'll never get over that.

The news is constantly filled with bad news, and bad people, but the best people can be found along America's trails, and the trail angels are special indeed!

Thanks for bringing back so many wonderful memories.

Dennis "K1" Blanchard

Author of "Three Hundred Zeroes: Lessons of the Heart on the Appalachian Trail."