HARTFORD, Conn. — A 16-member team of soldiers from the Connecticut Army National Guard’s 4th Platoon, Dagger Company (1st Battalion, 102nd Infantry Regiment) will support the mission of House of Heroes Connecticut with a 22-mile “March for Heroes.”
The March began at 7 a.m. at the Hartford State Armory on Broad Street.
They marched in line, sometimes to music, through several different towns. In hopes of bringing awareness to a cause very dear to their hearts.
“The event itself was planned by soldiers from the platoon. They decided on 22 miles because of the significance with the 22 veterans a day on average who commit suicide," said Sgt. First Class Jeremy Hughes, Connecticut Army National Guard. "Suicide has impacted all of us, most recently A member of our battalion ended his life early. It was just a way to tie our two desires together and then we picked today obviously with the significance of 9/11."
“The fact that we lost a member in our battalion, we felt like we wanted to make an impact. It kind of just shows wall it might not be as significant, that if you can continue to push through a hike in 22 miles, you can continue on through the day,” said Sgt Robert Blakeslee, Connecticut Army National Guard.
“Especially during times like this during COVID-19, fundraising for nonprofit organizations is very difficult. For these soldiers to come together on their own to do this march today is just a wonderful event,” said Dennis Buden, Executive Director, House of Heroes Connecticut.
But this isn't the only event House of Heroes will be holding. On Saturday, the organization and a team of about 20 volunteers will provide repairs for U.S. Marine Corps and Iraq War veteran and his young family.
House of Heroes Connecticut provides no-cost home repairs to military and public safety veterans (and their spouses) who are disabled, living on a fixed income or facing other physical/financial challenges. Saturday’s project is the organization’s 135th since the chapter’s founding in 2012.