The University of Iowa Veterans Association and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Veteran Organization are participating in their annual ruck march from Iowa City to Lincoln, Nebraska.

By Brooklyn Draisey
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 The University of Iowa and University of Nebraska-Lincoln may be sports rivals, but they put that aside and came together for a very special task.

 On the chilly evening of Wednesday, the University of Iowa Veterans Association and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Veteran Organization teamed up for the annual ruck march to raise awareness of veteran suicide. The march began at Kinnick Stadium and will end at Memorial Stadium, 347 miles away, on Nov. 24.

 Those participating in the march will carry a football that will be used in the Iowa/Nebraska game and 22 pounds in their packs to symbolize the 22 veterans who commit suicide every day.

 Those 22 pounds will be composed of the marchers’ personal belongings. Chris Phoumy, who came to march from Sioux City, said he had a hard time finding things heavy enough to reach 22 pounds, but he figured it out.

“A friend of mine served, and he died about a year ago from suicide, so I’m here to remember him,” Phoumy said. Phoumy is marching the first and last legs of the route.

 Matthew Miller, program director of the University of Iowa’s Military and Veteran Student Services, said this will be its fourth year of organizing the march.

 Since the march begins in the middle of the work week, UI volunteers will only march on Wednesday, Friday, and Nov. 19 before passing off the ball to the Nebraska marchers. Miller will march two legs of the route and provide support this year.

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“This helps bring awareness of the need to provide mental health support for our veterans who may be in crisis, and let them know that there are people who do care and will support them,” Miller said.

Marchers will not be alone on this long journey. Support vehicles will drive along the route, ready to offer drinks, snacks, and rides back when the marchers are done with their leg of the trek.

Though the UIVA plans on continuing with this tradition, Miller said, they may not be able to collaborate with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Veteran Organization forever. With the date of the Iowa/Nebraska game changing each year it will be difficult to make the collaboration work.

Miller said they plan on continuing the march no matter what.

“It’s putting us in their boots if you will …” he said. “Some of us have struggled with PTSD and depression after coming home, dealing with some of the things we’ve seen in the military, so it’s just another way to reconnect with those veterans.”

UI graduate, staff member, and veteran Randy Miller has marched in the past, but this year is driving the lead support vehicle. He said he continues to participate in this event to shed light on all of the veterans who have committed suicide, many while waiting for help from someone.

“It’s solidarity with my fellow student veterans,” Miller said. “Veterans are everywhere, but we seem to be forgotten all the time by everybody, so if the government won’t take care of us, we have to take care of each other.”