Veterans get help through Operation Iron Ruck
Veterans at Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City are receiving donations from this year’s Operation Iron Ruck.
The project is a three-day, 151-mile ruck march that brings awareness to veteran suicide.
Student veterans carried 22-pound rucksacks that included items like snacks, drinks, first aid and hygiene products. Those items were given to veterans at the home.
“It means everything when you lose your independence,” veteran Fred Finnegan told Action 8 News. “You really tend to….the first reaction Is to walk away from this life, to not want to live this life anymore. But if it wasn’t for support like this and our Lord Jesus Christ, we come back and we come back strong.”
“If you are a veteran and you’re having a hard time, just know that you’re not alone. If you don’t think anybody else cares about you, I want you to know we care about you,” Drew Lufkin of the Auburn Student Veteran Association said.
The march started on the campus of the University of Alabama and ended at Auburn right before the Iron Bowl.
