100-Mile hike honors heroes

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom HIKING FOR HEROES — On July 11 the Wilderness Walk for Warriors “Heroes Hike” started in Monson as a dozen participants began a 118-mile journey north to Mount Katahdin to honor fallen members of armed forces and first-responders as well raise funds to assist veterans and their families in need. During a pre-departure ceremony outside the Monson Center for Community and Commerce members of the Heroes Hike team revealed who they were hiking for and items of the honorees they are carrying along the trail. At the microphone is Nate Sturgis with Wilderness Walk for Warriors co-founder Tim Robinson to the left and founder Chris Robinson to the right.

Stuart Hedstrom

Staff Writer

MONSON — For the second year in a row, a group is traveling for over a week from Monson to Mount Katahdin through the 100-Mile Wilderness along the Appalachian Trail.

The 2015 “Heroes Hike” by the Wilderness Walk for Warriors honors fallen members of the armed forces from Maine as each of the dozen participants in the team carries a stone engraved with the name of this service member in conjunction with the Summit Project, and many of the hikers also are walking in recognition of other members of the military and/or first-responders.

The 118-mile hike also raises funds, such as monies collected through pledges, for various programs with 100 percent of the proceeds aimed at helping veterans and their families as well as initiatives tying in with emergency services. Costs incurred by the group are paid for by the members as part of the organization motto, “Assisting the Living and Honoring the Deceased.”

On the morning of July 11 the Heroes Hike kicked off with a motorcycle procession, with law enforcement escort, from the Maine Army National Guard Base in Bangor to in-town Monson. Motorcyclists representing various clubs and organizations led the hike participants in a convoy traveling about 60 miles to the Monson Center for Community and Commerce for a ceremony and ensuing barbecue to formally start the 2015 event.

With the outdoor bandstand flying an American flag and other red, white and blue decorations, Monson American Legion Post 116 flag, Wilderness Walk for Warriors banner and patriotic quilt, the ceremony began. “Personally I am hiking for a state trooper,” Wilderness Walk for Warriors co-founder Tim Robinson — himself a veteran of the U.S. Navy and current member of the National Guard — said to start the day’s proceedings. He said he is walking in memory of Jeff Parola of Dexter, whose father, mother and stepfather were in attendance on July 11.

“This is the second year for Wilderness Walk for Warriors,” Robinson’s brother and founder Chris Robinson said. “This is the second year we have had the privilege and honor of walking for our heroes.”

Tim Robinson said he would be hiking with a stone bearing the name of Army Spc. Dustin Harris of Patten, who was killed in Iraq in 2006. Robinson said he remembered Harris as a young boy, back when Robinson was in high school, helping him feed cows at a Patten farm.

Chris Robinson said along the 118 miles he will be traveling with the ashes of his University of Maine-Fort Kent fraternity brother Craig Feeney, who passed away from cancer and was a firefighter in Cranston, R.I. “I will be carrying that over the 118 miles,” he said.

The other Heroes Hike team members, a combination of current members of the military, veterans and civilians,  then took turns speaking from the multiple-story bandstand to introduce themselves and say who they would be walking for. “I’m carrying my uncle’s military ID card,” Chris Bartlett of Fryeburg said, in addition to his Summit Stone. Bartlett said his uncle suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage while serving in the Marines.

Jeff Bishop of Freedom, an Air Force veteran who is a member of the National Guard and a volunteer firefighter, said he would be carrying a small ammunition cartridge for his grandfather, a World War II veteran who took part in the final Allied push into Germany at the end of the war. “He was an individual who didn’t speak very often but when he did you darn well better pay attention because he had something to say,” Bishop said.

Tim Robinson then spoke some more about Parola, who was killed in an automobile accident while responding to a domestic dispute call in Sidney in 1994. “From a young age Jeff was set apart to serve, he knew from a young age he was destined to be a law enforcement officer,” Robinson said. “He was set apart, he was the real deal. If he were with us today he would be my friend.”

Guest speaker Rep. Jared Golden (D-Lewiston) said he is a veteran of the Marines, with deployments in both Afghanistan and Iraq and during a recent hike up Bigelow Mountain, “I thought about some of the guys I served with in the Marines.”

Golden said he wanted to enlist in the Marine infantry because he wanted to serve with the best “and I think I served with the best.” He then described some of his fellow Marines and said, “I am reminded I have more to give because they gave everything. Our fallen heroes have given everything to us. We have a responsibility to give back and they get it,” he said in thanking the Wilderness Walk for Warriors for all the organization does.

“There is no better way to honor the fallen than to continue with their line of service,” Golden said.

“As Jared said, this is a group that gets it,” American Legion Second Vice Commander Randy Kluj said. He said in December Wilderness Walk for Warriors gave about 70 dinners to veterans and/or families in need in the region, with another 50 meals distributed in both Millinocket and Mars Hill. In 2014, 190 veterans benefited monetarily from Wilderness Walk for Warriors.

“We at the American Legion appreciate everything they do and that’s why we support them,” Kluj said.

“These guys are really pulling off something amazing for veterans in the state of Maine,” Monson Town Manager Lucas Butler said. Butler said the Wilderness Walk for Warriors does everything with honor and he encouraged everyone present to learn more about the organization.

“I just want to thank all of you for coming out,” Chris Robinson said to conclude the kick-off event. He said several years ago he was hiking at Chimney Pond when he had an epiphany. Robinson said he had not served in the military “but benefitted for 48 years because of the service of all the others.”

Robinson then called his brother with his idea of a way to give back and from there the Wilderness Walk for Warriors began. The initiative continues to grow and “you are our inspiration to keep hiking and keep raising money for veterans,” Robinson told the crowd.

For more information, please see “Wilderness Walk for Warriors” on Facebook. The 2015 Heroes Hike is scheduled to conclude atop Mount Katahdin on July 20 with a closing ceremony to conclude the journey.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

MOTORCYCLE ESCORT — The 2015 Wilderness Walk for Warriors “Heroes Hike” participants traveled with a motorcycle escort from Bangor about 60 miles to Monson on the morning of July 11. From Monson the hikers are walking nearly 120 miles to Mount Katahdin to honor fallen members of the military and emergency response services, while also raising monies for related programs.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

A SALUTE FROM THE TOWN OF MONSON — Monson Town Manager Lucas Butler was among the guest speakers during a ceremony to send-off the participants in the Wilderness Walk for Warriors Heroes Hike on July 11.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

CLOSING MUSIC — U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan McFarland concluded the July 11 Heroes Hike ceremony in Monson with a patriotic bagpipe performance.