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Warrior Hikers with local Veterans and the VFW District 5 Commander David Johnson and his wife Joanie.
Warrior Hiker Shawn Murphy, VFW Reynoso Post 2767 Commander Leandro Guillen, Vice-Commander Margarito Bejarano and hiker Joshua Brewer.
San Manuel Miner
Members of the Tri-Community welcomed two veterans who are “walking off the war” by hiking the Arizona Trail from Mexico to Utah. The Warrior Hike “Walk Off the War” Program is designed to support combat veterans transitioning from their military service by thru-hiking America’s National Scenic Trails.
On Saturday, April 4, Joshua Brewer and Shawn Murphy were greeted at the trail head next to the American Flag Ranch southeast of Oracle by the Commander and Vice Commander of VFW Reynoso Post 2767 in Mammoth. Commander Leandro Guillen and Vice Commander Margarito Bejarano welcomed the two hiking veterans home. They drove them to Wal Mart in Oro Valley so the hikers could resupply. They were then driven to the San Manuel Lodge where the Lodge had donated a room for the night for their use.
The San Manuel Elks Lodge was the scene of a pot luck dinner attended by some local veterans and family members who greeted the hikers and wished them well. The VFW District 5 Commander David Johnson and his wife Joanie from Tucson also attended. Shawn and Joshua spoke briefly about the Warrior Hike Program. They were leaving in the morning and their next stop in a Gateway Community will be in Superior where they are scheduled to arrive on April 11. They have been averaging close to 20 miles a day hiking the trail. When they reach Utah, they will have hiked over 800 miles.
The VFW would like to thank everyone that helped support the Warrior Hikers, the San Manuel Lodge for housing them, La Casita for their offer to feed them lunch, the San Manuel Elks Lodge who provided the venue for the pot luck and the Sweet Spot who donated a cake. Thank you Tri-Community for supporting our veterans and best of luck to Joshua and Shawn on the trail and in their lives. To find out more about the Warrior Hike and track the progress of the hikers visit their website: http://warriorhike.org.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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