Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said that “Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time.”
If there were ever a man to live up to this quote, it was Captain Justin Fitch. The Army captain and Iraq War veteran died last month after a long battle with terminal colon cancer.
But, like the terminally ill little girl who was only concerned about her parents, Captain Fitch hardly spent a moment worrying about his own predicament. Instead, he immediately became consumed with what he would come to call his “Final Mission.”
In between more than 50 chemo treatments and countless surgeries, he decided that he would devote whatever time had left to raising awareness about the tragedy of veteran suicides in our nation, which occur at a rate of roughly 8,000 per year.
While there are some programs in place to help returning veterans, like the amazing therapy that introduces veterans to service dogs, Captain Fitch still did everything in his power to change the statistics.
His particular goal was to raise money and awareness by participating in Carry the Fallen, a nationwide movement that stages ruck marches, where hikers carry heavy burdens, in order to create camaraderie, raise money and awareness, and train community leaders.
That’s why it seems appropriate that Captain Fitch’s friends and loved ones decided to celebrate his life by staging a ruck march of their very own.
If you were moved by this young man’s selflessness and courage, please SHARE on behalf of American heroes like Captain Fitch.
