Man on a journey to assist vets

Toting a backpack and a United States flag, Justin Kuhel walked out of the western Maryland town of Clear Spring and headed the 11 miles east toward Hagerstown at midday Monday.

Kuhel has been walking a lot since 2012, when he saw “Hell and Back Again.” The documentary focused, in part, on a Marine who was recovering from wounds suffered in Afghanistan.

“I was actually on the patrol with him when he got shot. I remember when he got shot. I remember them loading him onto the bird,” Kuhel said Monday as traffic passed on U.S. Rt. 40.

“I was just sitting around when I was watching that,” Kuhel said. “I was in school, but other than that I wasn’t really doing much, and I felt like I needed to do something to help out my fellow veterans. I was a grunt (an infantry member) in the Marine Corps, so walking is what we do, and it just kind of seemed like the natural thing.”

So in 2012, he walked from his home in Columbus to Arlington National Cemetery, raising about $13,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project. In 2014, he spent five months walking from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to Camp Pendleton, California, raising more than $100,000 for veterans organizations.

On Dec. 14, he started his third walk, a 400-mile route from Columbus to Arlington. This time, he’s raising money for Help Our Military Heroes, which helps those who need modified vehicles because of their injuries, and Save a Warrior, which provides counseling and mental health services for veterans, members of the military, police, firefighters and other first responders.

Those two groups do “amazing work” for veterans, Kuhel said.

“The people who run these organizations are just tireless,” he said.

Donations, which are tax-deductible, come in a variety of ways. Online donations have been set up through Save a Warrior, he said. People can visit the March for our Vets Facebook page and click on a “learn more” button to contribute.

“And then also I do get people stopping me and giving me money, and then I send the money back almost every day, whenever I pass a post office,” he said. “It’s all tax deductible, all aboveboard, so you’re not just handing your money to some homeless-looking guy or whatever,” he said with a laugh as he pointed to himself.

Kuhel has been toting a tent on this walk. On Sunday, after a rain-soaked trek, he spent the night at a campsite near Hancock. On other nights, he said, he has spent nights at fire companies or other organizations that have provided a spot.

On his 2012 trip to Arlington, he said, he took a route through West Virginia. He said this is the first time he has traveled through the mountains of Western Maryland.

Reports indicate a person’s leg was trapped after a hitand-run crash in the 4100 block of Kammer Avenue.

Regional dispatch records indicate two vehicles were involved, but one kept driving.

At least one ambulance was called, but the extent of the injuries is unclear.

The crash was reported around 2:25 a.m. Wednesday.