Entries from March 2009 ↓

If you have any photos of Eddie Grey’s walking the perimeter of America, please send them to bill@eddiegreywalksamerica.net. Please include a  complete description with each photo. I will post your photos in Eddie’s Photo Album hosted by the American Legion of Montana.

Jin,

After deliberating over my maps and routes for an hour or two, I’ve come up with a total number of mileage thus far.

I poured over state and city maps with accurate mile markers. Only counting mileage where I carried all my gear, otherwise the number would be much higher and more daunting to count.

Therefore, with roads and streets taken, under load of pack and posture, my “tires” treaded with Nike footwear have carried me to the distance of 1,361 miles.

That is the current total as of entering Lincoln City, Ore..

From Lincoln City to the Oregon/California border it is approximately 242 miles. Which does not count any additional miles I may incur, due to added invite to inland towns.

Mine, is a journey of untold length, for there is no number that can be counted, mapped or approximated. Mileage is that of which I have already crossed, no more. And in that only, speaks of the true length of my quest, of my odyssey.

–Ed–

Jin,

How’s it going buddy? Good I hope.

I’m just waiting out some wild-fires here near Silverton, Oregon. A lady who is a friend of the family and knows where I’m from took me in with open arms. Very nice woman and very intellectual. We get along great and talk quite a bit about a lot of issues with my tribe and the world in general. When she shows me around the area some people think she’s my mother or grandmother. Her name is Anne Gallaspy, Irish by heritage, and being half Irish myself we have that in common.

She was with an aunt of mine and her husband who were here in Portland for a conference. They took their kids to Lincoln City to see the Ocean and were leaving when they spotted me just entering the city. Of all places to see and meet people from back home, I didn’t expect it to be here. So you can imagine my surprise. They were her for about a week then left back for home to Lame Deer, Montana. They saw pictures and newspaper clippings in our tribal building and the store, I guess someone is keeping track of me back there. They let people know where they saw me to update them.

Since I was going to see what the wild fire situation was going to be like, I volunteered my services to help Anne get her yard in order (i.e. Cut grass, prune trees, clear out bushes).

Anne is 73 years of age and lives alone in a very big house in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. She has taken well care of me and I do appreciate that immensely.

She sends books to the libraries back home and other miscellaneous items, so the children learn more of the world they are a part of.

I’ve also been helping an Iraq Marine with his PTSD issues. He’s a kid from back home but stays out here from time to time to regain his thoughts. As a fellow Marine brother and Cheyenne brother, we have gotten a lot off his chest and regained his confidence in life. He witnessed his best friend’s Humvee get K.O’d by an IED. He died enroute to the medical base from burns that covered 90% of his body. His dog tag were the only way they could identify him. He was of the age of 19, so young.

Other than life’s dramas and natures wrath, I am doing good and reviving my engines to get this quest underway again. I sincerely hope this letter finds you and your girlfriend in good spirit and good weather. C-ya on the sunny-side.

Respectfully Yours,

Eddie Gray

It’s a green eye blond kind of day. The kind of day when snow is slowly melting away as nostalgia once escaped our journey home. The kind of day when a hero is trying to find his way home yet the crudeness of the road beneath his feet has transformed what was once the proud to now the humble.

6 am, a text message from a distance friend I have never met. A once and always Marine walking with only his determination and pride to see the people he had swore to defend.

The text message reads: “Beautiful hot, blond hair greens, wants to walk over the Golden Gate w/ me ☺ Semper Fidelis ”

This is Eddie Gray, and this is his story. It a green eye blond kind of day for Eddie, and it is the important part of his day to know that there is hope and those around him who shares his struggle with our nation’s identity. I wrote back to him while keeping one hand on the wheel; gas pedal to the floor trying to catch up to the speed limit in my small two-door Ford Ranger. I know Eddie only by his determination, and by his decision to walk around the country. I admire him only because I don’t have the will to walk with him, and I am simply settled into the comfort of my surroundings with a steady pay and a 20th century home that needs constant repair and reprieve.

Eddie is walking around the country, with no money nor any endorsements like so many others these days. He had once wrote to me and asked that I assist him in getting some recognition and assistance from The American Legion devoted to the wellbeing of our veterans. As a once and always Marine, he knows if anyone would understand it would be our leaders and our volunteers.

It is a green eye blond kind of day, and today Eddie is not alone. Today I learned that his is one of many, struggling to reach out and touch someone with the pride and purpose of his own fruition. Today, I am walking with him in spirit, and I am happy that he has company to cross the Golden Gate.

It’s a journey. A journey only a man can endure. Not heroes for they would let their ego get in the way of becoming part of the journey. How often we forget that heroic acts and memories of sacrifices only impede life’s fullest intent.

-jin