Article by Abigail Crawford. Photos credited throughout. Feature Photo by Sara Hendrickson.
Grab your boots and grab your dog, because it’s Ruck Life 2025 time! On Sept. 5, 23rd Veteran hosted Ruck Life as a way to help spread awareness and gather supplies to help other military veterans.
To say the United States military has been influential in my life would be a grand understatement. My family includes a vast collection of servicemembers, soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors.
Service in the United States military takes the form of every shape and color in the country. From the soldier’s boots on the ground, to the sailors patrolling the oceans. From the combat medic tending the wounded to the cook giving the troops a taste of home, every servicemember matters. However, when this service ends, many find themselves shattered from their experiences, both overseas and at home.
However, just as much as service has been in my family, so has the potential consequences that come with service. My father, a former United States Marine who served in the First Gulf War, came back from service with PTSD from his time in service, and had turned to alcohol to help him cope. Thankfully, he began to heal, and now is the lead program coordinator for 23rd Veteran, a nonprofit devoted to eliminating veteran suicides through support and companionship.
Twice a year, once in the Twin Cities and another in northern MN, 23rd Veteran puts on a charity ruck march, a ruck march being a military-style hike traditionally used to carry equipment (see picture 1). However, instead of military equipment, the ruckers for 23rd Vet carry food and other supplies meant to be donated after the march, with all the proceeds going to struggling veterans.
Post advertising Ruk Life in Stewart Hall.
Myself and a good friend of mine, Jesse Hulet, arrived just before 9:30AM on September 6th, both being volunteers for the event. Jesse is a fellow student at SCSU, studying accounting. After receiving our volunteer t-shirts, specially marked for the ten-year anniversary of Ruck Life, before setting up our tent out behind the track. I was assigned to be a medic, so I had my little EMT bag with me, full of bandaids and antibiotic ointment.
The stage during Mr. Warner’s speech, as taken by volunteer Kayla Lanthrop.
After getting all set up, all the ruckers were gathered towards the stage, where a few speakers came out to talk about what the ruck was all about. Mike Waldron, the executive director for 23rd Veteran, speaking about how 23rd’s unique approach to therapy made veterans much more likely to seek help.
Above:The lovely ladies from the Royal Order of Klondike Kates, who were kind enough to sing the national anthem before the ruck began. Below: The starting/finish line for the Ruck.
One of the other speakers was the founder of Haven for Heroes, a shelter for homeless veterans out of Anoka, Mr. Bart Warner. Mr. Warner was also kind enough to speak with myself and Jesse at his office at the Haven, and was willing to do an interview with us. We had to find a way up to Haven, luckily, a veteran staying at the Haven was willing to give us a ride in a four-wheeler, with Jesse being towed in a trailer behind the vehicle…
Jesse Hulet, an SCSU student who attended the Ruck.
Jesse and I walked into the office, and passed some of the residents, who were preparing to take the donated food from the ruck into the building. As we walked in, a giant stack of boxes labelled Carhartt stretched through more than half the room. Mr. Warner explained that Carhartt is kind enough to donate to the Haven twice a year, providing clothing to the residents who cannot afford clothing on their own, including women and children’s clothing. Cheers of ruckers and supporting volunteers echoed outside as we settled in for the interview.
“What they do for us is important besides the march. Second, we get 5000-7000 pounds of food from the ruck. We’re saving lives and we’re saving historic buildings,” said Warner.
The full interview with Warner can be found here.
“The other thing I would say is, and I can really say this about Minnesota, and maybe a few other states, [is that] Minnesota and Minnesotans get it. They get supporting their veterans, so the community as a whole in Minnesota has a lot of different organizations to support vets,” said Warner.
23rd Veteran’s mission to support veterans who are coming out of the service also ties in very well with Mr. Warner’s philosophy of veterans, many of whom have never worked and lack life skills.
“A lot of young men, women come into the service when they’re 18 years old, you know, maybe 20 years old, and they’ve never, ever really had a household. They’ve never budgeted, they’ve never really paid bills. They got out of school, and got into the service. Now, when they get out of the service, four, six, eight years, whatever the number is later, they don’t really have a lot of life skills. They’ve never gone out and asked for a job,” said Warner.
We have veterans and currently serving soldiers and cadets all over SCSU campus! From my own service to the JROTC officer candidates. I even ran into a student the next morning at SCSU who recognized me and asked if I had been at the ruck!
Services done by Haven for Heroes and 23rd Veteran work to save lives of some of those most in need of assistance in our community, by those who have risked themselves for the country. It is wonderful that SCSU has been willing to help get the word out there for these wonderful charities, helping to make this country and world a better place for those who have served.
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