Compiled from news reports
Three retired U.S. Marines walking across the country are making their way across the last two mountain ranges and nearing the end of their 3,365-mile journey next week in Newport.
The trio — Justin LeHew, Coleman “Rocky” Kinzer and Ray Shinohara — is called the “Long Road Team.”
They got a big sendoff this week from Bend-area veterans who honored the Marines’ efforts to raise awareness of America’s killed and missing in action from all wars and conflicts and are now they are hiking up and over snowy Santiam Pass on U.S. Highway on their way to their final destination – Newport. Thursday they were east of Sweet Home.
“Absolutely, we are glad to be near the end,” LeHew, 52, told reporters in Bend, where they took the longest break of the trip. “It’s been 3,200 miles and change and we aren’t getting any younger.”
They are expected to arrive in Newport next Saturday, Dec. 17 to a big welcome involving veterans, law enforcement, community groups – and family members who will walk the last couple of miles with them.
LeHew and Kinzer started walking June 6 from Boston, Shinohara joined them in August in the Midwest. They are averaging 20 miles a day.
The Marines are walking the entire length of U.S. 20 — the longest highway in America — to raise awareness of the 81,600 Americans still missing in action from WWII, the Korean and Vietnam wars and other conflicts. They take turns driving their support vehicle.
Funds they raise are dedicated to searching for and recovering the remains of lost heroes.
“At the end … being done and not having to walk … being able to go see my family,” is what Shinohara said he is looking forward to. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen them. I’m also looking forward to sharing the stories along the way that we’ve experienced on the long road.”
Raising money, awareness
The point of the walk, dubbed “The Long Road,” is to raise funds for History Flight, a nonprofit dedicated to identifying the remains of U.S. military personnel killed overseas and then arranging their transportation home for a proper burial.
LeHew, of Fredericksburg, Va., is the chief operating officer for History Flight. Kinzer, 45, of Kailua, Hawaii, is an assistant operations manager and team leader for Life Flight missions. Before History Flight, LeHew, Kinzer and Shinohara served together in the 3rd Marine Regiment.
Since 2003, History Flight has helped recover, identify and return the remains of more than 160 service members killed in wars in Europe and the Pacific. It has also helped recover an additional 350 sets of remains that await identification by the federal Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
“Most people have no idea there are 81,000 U.S. service members missing in action since World War II,” he said.
“The Long Road” hopes to call attention to the work of History Flight but also the sacrifice of thousands of service personnel and their families.
Every community has a war memorial with names of the fallen. Each name represents a real person lost in war.
“You have a town with a 300 population, and there are five names on the memorial,” Kinzer said. “That’s a huge sacrifice.”
Kinzer carries a heavy pack on his back. LeHew, who earned the Navy Cross for heroism in Iraq in 2003, is harnessed into a modified bicycle trailer loaded with hundreds of pounds of gear that he pulls behind him.
“This is it. This is what we carry,” LeHew said.
The idea for “The Long Road” originated a few years ago, according to LeHew. They planned to do it in 2020 but COVID-19 delayed things. A few months ago, the time seemed right with an overlapping “window of opportunity” between work and the weather, so they went for it.
LeHew said that when one Marine proposes something crazy to another Marine, the proper response is to agree. He recalled how Kinzer, without hesitation, said, “Let’s do this.”
They’ve been keeping a daily account of their journey on a Facebook page, titled The Long Road. While the page was set up almost as an afterthought, it’s turning out to be quite valuable. Their Facebook followers who live along U.S. 20 are reaching out, offering food, shelter and any other assistance they can give.
LeHew is keeping track and looking to tap into that base of support throughout the journey. His wife, back home in Virginia, works as an advance scout. Each day she calls police departments for communities on itinerary to let them know they are coming.
Police have been receptive, and officers have come by to ask if they are OK and to recommend where they could bed down for the night, according to the pair.
Longest route
By the time they reach Newport, the two veterans will have traveled through 12 states.
“We picked the longest highway for a reason,” Lehew said.
While their journey is an awareness campaign for Americans missing or killed in action and their families, their walk together on U.S. 20 is symbolic for other reasons. It’s been roughly 20 years since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and this walk is a reminder that you don’t have to do things — especially difficult things — alone, Lehew said.
“I found out in 12 states that this is something everyone can get behind. Every single person,” Lehew said, “It’s such a righteous cause that doesn’t have political affiliations. It’s very rare in America to find that.”
- This story was compiled from reports from MassLive.com, Central Oregon Daily and the Bend Bulletin
Awesome story. Very good, not the usual, negative, violent narrative that fills many news stories. Refreshing. Thank you.
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