Army and Air Force veterans team up to save lives

Hiking Hero promotes awareness, understanding
DVIDS
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District
Story by Michelle Helms
FebruARy 5, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - A John Day Lock and Dam crane operator set out for a hike one day on the Appalachian Trail. It was a long hike. Six weeks and 1,100 miles later, Kevin Kitchen, an Air Force veteran, and his hiking partner Army veteran Eric Bourquin reached the marker at end of the trail, adding their names to the list of people who have made the same trek.

Their journey, sponsored by the Hiking Heroes Foundation, was intended to bring awareness to two issues many veterans struggle with: unemployment and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“It’s amazing,” said Kitchen. “You go through parts of Virginia and they have never been around people in the military. All they know is what they see on the news; they have no idea what PTSD truly is.”

Bourquin began the hike July 11 at the northern end of the trail at Mount Katahdin, Maine, with Army veteran Sean Niquette. It’s not an easy hike; the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website reports the trail is about 2,180 miles long and stretches through 14 states, from Maine to Georgia. Halfway into the hike Niquette had to fall out; that’s when Kitchen stepped up to support Bourquin’s quest to finish the trail.

“This is something I firmly believe in,” said Kitchen. “Eric needed someone to hike with him and I couldn’t leave him out there on his own.”
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