FORT HOOD, Texas - I can walk to Iraq and back just like this...all the way to Baghdad ... and I won't quit ... one mile ... no sweat, fifty-thousand miles..., and I haven't finished yet.
Family members of Soldiers from 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, probably aren't singing this cadence as they symbolically walk the distance from Fort Hood to Iraq and back, but they have been wearing out their sneakers since the division's deployment to Iraq last December.
The distance from Fort Hood to Iraq and back is approximately 14,292 miles.
Since December, spouses and Family members as far away as Evansville, Ind., have walked more than 52,000 miles and counting, said Lori Wiggins, a military spouse, the 3rd HBCT walk coordinator.
The idea to support the troops by walking originated after Wiggins, from Greenville, Texas, read an e-mail about a unit that tracked the miles its rear detachment Family members walked in order to see if they could walk the distance to Iraq and back during the unit's deployment.
"At work I had to walk half the length of the building 10 to 20 times a day to get to the photocopier. I was curious to find out how many miles I walked in a day, a week, and would it be enough to get me to Iraq and back, so I decided to keep track," said Wiggins, spouse of Sgt. 1st Class James Wiggins, currently deployed to Iraq with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, Brigade Special Troop Battalion, 3rd HBCT, 1st Cav. Div.
'A no brainer,' said Harold Greenwell, from Evansville, Ind., when he received an email to join 3rd HBCT's Family Readiness Group in a 'Walk to support the troop' campaign.
"It's a great way to show our support for the men and women in uniform," said Greenwell, whose son Staff Sgt. Justin Greenwell, is currently deployment to Iraq with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, BSTB, 3rd HBCT, 1st Cav. Div. "More importantly it is a way of showing support for their Families and the everyday sacrifices that our troops make to keep us free and safe here at home."
The Evansville community is very supportive of the group's efforts to get behind the troops. New members are always welcomed and there is no fee to join, said Greenwell, a proud member of The Freedom Runners of Evansville.
When asked how far she would walk to see her husband downrange, Shelinda Anderson, a BSTB, 3rd HBCT, 1st Cav. Div., spouse replied: "As far as need be, even to see him for only one minute."
"I have used so many excuses for not working out, but walking to support my husband and the Soldiers in the brigade gets me up, out the door and walking," said Anderson, from Jackson, Tenn. "We know how many miles it takes to go there and back, it's a long trip, but we're going to show them how many times we can walk there and back."
Anderson can't walk along side her husband or other Soldiers in Iraq, so each step here honors them there.
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