William Shuttleworth doesn’t mind peeling off his backpack and stopping to talk for a few minutes in an air conditioned car. He could use the rest and a break from the heat. The 71-year-old retired educator started out early Thursday morning and by around 10:30 a.m. on June 27, had walked from Chillicothe down Hwy. 36 about 30 miles in the sun with temperatures in the nineties.
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It sounds crazy, but he has his reasons:
“I’m walking to raise awareness and form an action plan for services for veterans,” he says. He taps his chest with his fist: “For me it’s a spiritual thing, a sacred journey.”
William, a veteran of the Air Force, serving from 1970-1976, has never himself asked for VA services. But he knows plenty of veterans who have. He heard many of their stories while working at a park in California where homeless veterans camped out. He was astonished and horrified by their struggles with drug addiction, alcoholism, suicidal thoughts, unemployment, and lack of medical care.
An avid hiker, William was inspired: “I came home and told my wife, since I walk 20 miles a day anyway, why not walk a straight line to build a coalition to demand changes in our country?”
And so his journey began. William is on a seven-month walk across America from Massachusetts to California. The coast to coast walking tour, which he calls “Vets Don’t Forget Vets,” started in May and will cover 3,600 miles.
Along the way, he talks to any vet he comes across. Sometimes he meets them in small groups at VA Centers, churches, coffee shops, and across dining room tables. In Chillicothe, he met with veterans at the Elks Lodge.
Earlier on his trek through Missouri, near Monroe City, he met a vet who was a young farmer in overalls.
“This 33-year-old boy has congestive heart failure and congestive lung failure,” William says. “He helped burn the bombs and munitions belonging to Sadaam Hussein and that’s how he got sick. Now the army is denying he was even over there. He has the papers, the photos. They say the photos are air brushed. All because they don’t want to pay his medical bills. This young man is as honest as the day is long. I hear story after story. It’s depressing.”
William describes his mission:
- Get vets to run for office;
- Eliminate veteran homelessness by 2030;
- When suicidal veterans call a hotline, go to their house and check on them, don’t just say, ‘here’s a number to call’;
- Provide veterans with the same medical plan as members of Congress.
William says veterans gave a lot and often have little to show for it. These men and women have little voice in Congress.
“It seems to me, the only job Congress has is to be re-elected,” he says. “When veterans signed up for a job, they put their life on the line. The least our government can do is take care of them.”
William believes Congress has lost sight of America’s values. In 1970 when William went into the military, 75% of Congress was veterans; today it’s only 18%.
“Congress has no clue,” he says. “They’re rich, entitled, and out of contact with the average, ordinary person.”
William is not advocating an increase in funding for veteran causes.
“I’m not asking for another dollar,” he says. “I want to see the money spent more wisely and on the people. Health care for our veterans is a shambles. Veterans get the run around, constantly fighting red tape, and being denied claims. I don’t think Congress has the moral will or fiber to do the right thing. The American people do. I’ve not met a single person who doesn’t love a veteran.”
William is a retired educator; he is married, with children and grandchildren, and lives in the coastal town of Newburyport, MA.
“One of the major things I would like people to know,” he says. “People watch TV. They see the bad news, the shootings, the bombing, the murders and rapes. Put on a pair of these —” he points at his hiking boots “— and start walking. You will find the greatest people, kind, gracious, hard working, honest. A good and decent people who deserve better. At the quilt stores in Hamilton, every employee came outside to greet me.”
William leaves the air conditioner and puts his backpack back on. He says he feels good and has never been in any danger and has never had any trouble with his health, but the pack starts getting heavy before the day is over, “Like somebody put a cement block in there.”
Since May 15, he has averaged 32-33 miles a day. He says he will slow down at St. Joe. “Kansas heat is gonna kill me.”
His wife is flying to Kansas City and then driving to St. Joseph to spend a couple of days with him. It’s the first time he’ll have seen her since his trek began.
Before he leaves to continue his walk down Highway 36, he leaves this message for veterans:
William Shuttleworth is walking in support of veterans. Visit his blog and keep track of his journey at vetsdontforgetvets.com. You can also donate to help him address homelessness, addiction, access to healthcare, and fair pay for enlistees.
“Don’t give up. Demand services. Call Congress, call me, call somebody. People my age give up. They get the run around so much, they finally say, I’m done. Isn’t that pretty tragic?”