Veterans Trek, drunk driving, surveillance

Air Date:
Heard On Central Time

Central Time spoke with Sen. Alberta Darling last week about her proposed legislation to enact harsher penalties on drunk Drivers. Now Rob Ferrett and Cynthia Schuster discuss new ways of preventing drunk driving. Then they speak with two Iraq War Veterans who are walking from Milwaukee to Los Angeles to bring awareness to issues facing our returning vets. Plus, a new segment puts modern-day anti-terror surveillance efforts in historical context.

Featured in this Show

  • Iraq War Veterans To Walk 2,700 Miles

    On August 30, 2013, two Iraq War veterans plan to start a 2,700 mile walk from Milwaukee, WI, to Los Angeles, CA. Having coined the phrase “Veterans Trek,” the two hope to raise awareness of veterans’ issues here in America while raising funds for the organization DryHootch.

    Tom Voss is one half of the pair behind “Veterans Trek.” At the age of 20, Voss was deployed to Mosul, Iraq and suffered the loss of his platoon sergeant and squad leader, both killed in action while he was serving. When he returned, he says he immediately tried to resume a normal life in the States: “I never really took the time to deal with what I was going through.”

    Voss originally planned the five-month trek to sort through his emotions. He discussed his plans with his friend, Anthony Anderson; Anderson, a fellow Iraq vet, agreed to join him.

    Anderson’s had his own difficulties in homecoming. After the welcome parties were over and he had been back for a few months, Anderson began to have trouble sleeping at night. He struggled, using alcohol to cope. He decided that he needed help and reached out to Dryhootch. “Emotions don’t serve you well in a combat zone, and so you turn them off,” said Anderson. “I still struggle to access any emotions outside of anger, and hope this walk will allow me to work through some of this stuff.”

    DryHootch is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization formed by combat veterans to help other soldiers returning home. Its goal is provide a safe, comfortable, drug and alcohol free environment for returning vets and their families. They provide peer-to-peer counseling and other resources to help with the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and addiction, as well as assistance finding housing and employment.

    Supporters of the pair’s journey to raise awareness and funds to support DryHootch can follow them on their website: https://veteranstrek.com/.

Related Stories