Student veterans share a Thanksgiving meal halfway to Tuscaloosa in Operation Iron Ruck

On November 29, 2024By Pranco

DEATSVILLE, Ala. (WIAT) – During Operation Iron Ruck, veterans and active duty will travel 150 miles to raise awareness for veteran suicide prevention. On Thursday evening, these veterans will also take time to share what they are grateful for during a Thanksgiving meal.

Although Jordan Hare’s road to Bryant Denny Stadium is a long one, they say it’s a meaningful journey. Veterans wear the Iron Bowl cue ball and 22 dog tags. These are intended to honor the 22 veterans who commit suicide every day.

‘There is no inscription on it, because the intention is to remain nameless. The point is…that was the statistic when Operation Iron Ruck began,” said Ryder Burk of the Auburn Student Veterans Association. “And we are now at seventeen, which is excellent.”

Before hitting the road again, veterans rested and shared a Thanksgiving meal at Marbury High School in Deatsville. They talked about what this ruck means to them.

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“We all know people,” said Chris-Enrique Vega-Marquez, a student veteran at the University of Alabama. “And at the end of the day, the dream is not to know people who have been through this. Because we don’t want this to happen. It’s not… it’s hard. That’s really true.”

‘There are always people around who take care of our country. And they’re not with their families,” said John Burgess, a student veteran at Auburn University. “And this isn’t just to honor them either, but it’s everyone else in the mix that helped us get to this point. And so being away from our families is kind of a tribute to those who are away from their families.”

Also running in the ruck is 78-year-old Ray Looney, who served in Vietnam. Regardless of the theater, he said veterans have a lot in common.

“We all have stories about being somewhere we don’t want to be, but still having some sort of Thanksgiving dinner together,” Looney said. “And that is the essence of our camaraderie.”

Bill Schwenk, coordinator of Operation Iron Ruck, said this week is more than a game.

“And you’ll hear people say ‘War Eagle’ and ‘Roll Tide’ at the same time,” Schwenk explains. “And I think we secretly like to hear it, man. Because we know when they say it, it’s about more than a game. It’s about our family, man, and we’re really fighting for them.”

Back on the road, the participants said they would arrive in Tuscaloosa on Friday evening. They will deliver the game ball Saturday, just before the Iron Bowl starts at 2:30 p.m

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