Brothers walk cross-country in honor of service members

WEAKLEY COUNTY, Tenn. — If you were driving on Highway 45 Tuesday, you may have seen two brothers with their American flag and wagon in tow.

The pair are walking cross-country in hopes of raising awareness for veterans suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and depression.

Nearly 1,000 miles into their walk, Jeff and Rick Harrison took a break to talk about their trek.

“We just started it ourselves,” Rick Harrison said. “It’s just me and my brother, and we just wanted to make awareness for our brothers and our sisters in the service that needed some help.”

The brothers are both retired from the U.S. Army, but their family has a background in military service. Another of their brothers and their father, Will Harrison, also served in the military.

Will Harrison inspired his sons’ journey from Naples, Florida, to Seattle, Washington.

“Well, I’m doing it for Dad, and then the acronym fell into place, with the dementia, Alzheimer’s and depression,” Harrison said.

The brothers walk for Will Harrison, who suffered from dementia prior to his death.

Jeff and Rick Harrison say that, at their current pace, they’ll be finished with the walk by the end of July, or maybe even the end of June.

Rick says the trip started after a conversation with their father before his death. He says he told his father he thought he and Jeff would walk from south Florida to Seattle.

“He looked at me and he said, ‘Well, you can’t do that,’ and, well, that kind of put the inspiration behind me to do it,” Rick said.

So far, the brothers say they love Tennessee, and say many residents have welcomed them along the way.

“Tennessee has been really nice. We’ve met a lot of nice people, and a lot of people, they see us, and they want to talk to us, and they want to find out what we’re doing and donated and stuff as we’re walking along,” Rick said.

For more information about Veterans Walk for DAD: Dementia Alzheimer’s and Depression, visit their Facebook page.