Hiking across the United States to raise money for military families, Army veteran Troy Yokum ended the first 3000 miles of his journey in Las Vegas on October 22, 2010. Yokum, who is no stranger to long, challenging work days, having deployed twice to Iraq while enlisted, left Kentucky on April 17, 2010 and has been hiking ever since. His goal is to raise $5 million, and he has raised $80,000 so far.
“Walking across America is a great way to raise funds,” stated Yokum in an interview. According to Yokum, $5 million would assist about 20,000 families
Yokum drove in to Las Vegas several days before his official arrival, and was a guest on The Freedom Hour on ybsradio.com, as well as other local television and radio broadcasts. A man of integrity, he then drove back to Arizona where he had last stopped, and hiked into Las Vegas. His path took him South on 1-15 and onto North Las Vegas Blvd. He and his Hike for our Heroes crew stayed on Las Vegas Blvd until they successfully reached the Bellagio Hotel fountain at 5:30 PM on October 22nd.
Along the way, Yokum attempted to get Las Vegas Metropolitan Police to escort he and his team on the Strip portion of their journey. The police were initially unwilling to assist, however Yokum was able to garner an escort from the Las Vegas Fire Department. Yokum shared his story once at the Bellagio, stating that while he and his Hike for our Heroes crew were being escorted by a yellow fire truck, the Strip police spied them, and thinking Yokum was up to something, approached him. Apparently the squad car also had a Cops crew filming in Las Vegas, and Yokum and his group were filmed and then encouraged to sign releases. This led to the police deciding to assist in the escort, and Yokum arrived at the Bellagio with a fire truck, a squad car and two bicycle cops in tow.
After resting several days, Yokum will begin the next leg of his journey, making his way to San Diego, California where he will participate in the Veterans Day Parade on November 11th. Then Yokum, his wife Mareike, and their two dogs, Emmie the Superdog and her side kick Harley, will begin their journey East to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Obama. Yokum has many excellent sponsors on his 7000 mile hike across country, two of which are Soldiers’ Angels and Louisville Slugger. Bringing wooden Louisville Slugger bats with him from town to town, Yokum elicits a signature on the bat from Mayors, Governors, and Police Chiefs in support of declaring October 26th Day of the Deployed. Upon reaching the Whitehouse, Yokum will present all the signed bats to the President and request that Day of the Deployed become official. As of October 24th, Mayor Goodman had not responded to Yokum’s request for a meeting.
Inspired by a battle buddy who encountered rough times after returning to civilian life, Yokum is adamant that it falls upon Americans to assist and empower service members and their families when they fall upon hard times. The military and their families sacrifice so much for freedom so Yokum is, “…asking people to reach deep to help these military families.” Yokum would like to encourage everyone to donate, and is hopeful that if he can get one million people to donate $5 each, his goal will be raised. Donating is as simple as texting “soldiers” on your mobile phone to 20222.
“It’s not easy to walk across America,” Yokum admitted, but he is committed to stepping up as a veteran and doing what he can to help service members and their families.
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