Seven LSU military students rucked 323 miles across four states to raise money and awareness for U.S. veterans over the winter break.
“The start point was at the military science building here on LSU’s campus,” criminology freshman and LSU ROTC Air Force cadet Austin Firmin said, “and the end point was the Southwest gate of Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
The seven students began their journey at 5:00 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 3, and completed their ruck at approximately 4:30 p.m., Jan. 7.
A ruck is a common military practice in which participants cover large distances carrying a load on their back.
“This was a plan developed by [Firmin], and he invited us to partake in it with him,” history freshman and U.S Marine Cameron Richards said.
The idea for the march stemmed from a similar challenge taken on by Firmin in the first half of 2019. He rucked 165 miles from his high school in Covington to Vicksburg, Mississippi on his own to raise money for various veterans’ foundations, including the Semper Fi Fund and Operation Homefront.
“I wanted to do that with a group of people,” Firmin said, “I planned it out again with the route and calling hotels to get rooms donated, calling police stations, calling news networks.”
The seven students hoped that their display would help spread awareness and capture the resolve of the LSU military program.
“LSU was founded as a military university,” Firmin said. “We used to have 7,000 cadets back in the ‘60s, now we have maybe 400.”
While this march did garner new awareness about the University and its military program, Firmin and Richards never lost sight of the true cause: awareness for veterans’ foundations.
“It’s easy to do something for yourself, but the real mental challenge was doing something for others,” Richards said. “The veterans do a lot for our society and our way of life, and all of our comforts come from their sacrifices.”
Firmin went on to add the importance of paying it forward. He expressed how important it was to push himself through such trials in his young military career, not only for himself, but to show the extent of gratitude the University has for the country’s veterans.
“If you say seven college kids are going to walk 24 hours a day for five days straight across four states for over 300 miles with not a lot of support,” Firmin said, “it’s going to raise a bit more awareness about these organizations.”
The students’ effort was met with positive feedback and demonstrated support. Along an 8-mile stretch of highway in Mississippi, a police car escorted the hiking Tigers through the night. Firmin said there were spectators holding up American flags in the rain throughout other portions of the journey. The two also stated that police officers and passers-by in certain places would check in on them, providing water and fruit for the weary hikers.
“I can speak for the majority of us who did this,” Richards said, “that we were focused on finishing this for someone else and not ourselves. It was that passion that allowed us to be able to trek through our own personal tribulations.”
The students also sponsor a GoFundMe to raise money for various veterans’ foundations. Click here to donate.