We Will Remember Them. I Walked 457km For My Brothers

uh the amount of cardio that I'm doing definitely helps with that, the reason why I do it. The boys are on my mind. I'm listening to military audiobooks probably two out of every three days that I do. I am very aware of the reasons why I am doing this. I'm very aware of the reasons why I won't stop this and these are partially the reasons I know I won't stop with this. Know? I'm here to have sore legs and feet and saw heels, and that's enough to keep me going and moving forward. I am a veteran of the armed forces.

I served in Afghanistan twice and Iraq once. I left the armed forces in 2009 and I have been looking to get back into shape for the last year and every November I have done something, some kind of physical challenge or test, although I haven't actually been fit enough to complete

them

and I don't know . whether it's out of remembrance or regret or some burning desire to

remember

The Lads that we lost five five days 457 kilometers this feels like a challenge this feels like a significant amount of personal pain it would be worth going through this It's a grind , so that's what I decided to make 457k to

remember

the 457 luds we lost in Afghanistan.

I think a lot of soldiers miss the closeness of the Brotherhood and the idea that you would literally sacrifice your life for this other human being who for 21 years of your life they didn't know they were going through the same kind of basic training together they end up in the same regiment they go to work together you may have only known

them

for a year of your life, but there is a

will

ingness to give your life with them. How did you do that? how does that happen? It's weird um but it's real you know you have good times together you have the worst times together when you have to bury friends or lose comrades and you probably share thoughts and conversations never.

The superficial things that you might have had with someone you went to school with or maybe someone you work with, the conversation is different because you're sleeping in the same room as these people. you're going through intense hardships with these people and it's almost indescribable what camaraderie between soldiers is all about. A guy messaged me on Instagram the other day and with the soldiers it's like what years you were in, what clothes. he did and had done two tours of Iraq, one tour of Afghanistan in the reverse order that I did them, uh, and the first thing he said was that Iraq was like, oh, the Rockets, yeah, the rockets in Iraq were horrible to the try to make physical effort. challenges every November I don't know if I could pinpoint exactly what that was, it was only when I was talking to my therapist that I had last year, when I really realized that I was doing something conscious, I wasn't aware that I was doing it, my wife Had noticed.

I hadn't realized it. I think it's a combination of things. Bonfire night is horrible for veterans. A veteran. I've been, you know, under indirect fire from the IDF. I was martyred and Sheldon shot. Bonfire night is absolutely horrendous and I. I don't like it I won't go to bonfire nights I won't go to fireworks shows I can't stand it and it's a good two or three weeks where you're almost bombarded with images, noises Feelings where you can't get away from it and I don't know if it's just that all those kinds of experiences are pushed to the front and then it's like looking at myself and saying I still have it, is it a self insecurity thing? a need to prove to myself that I am still capable.

I'm still a soldier at heart and it's probably something like that, if not exactly that, one of the problems with PTSD is that one of the symptoms of PTSD is not wanting to talk about it. it's so believe me buddy, I get it, I don't want to talk to anyone, you don't want to talk to yourself and for all the people that go, hey, contact me, send me a message, you wouldn't, I wouldn't have done it and I know you won. No but what I

will

say is that there is help and you may need a family member to step in, it has to come from you, yes you have to take the first step, it's the same as shooting a move if you're not shooting and you're not moving you're dead so you have to make the move you have to make it happen literally the lady I was talking to would say everything you're saying is everything everything she would say and no I don't know why hearing that was really comforting because you think I tore it up like we were obviously doing the British Legion walks.

The British Legion has all kinds. There's nothing you can tell them that they haven't heard before. Sure, like I said, I talked to Military Veterans Services and I couldn't recommend it enough, it was amazing, thank you, but the sunset and in the morning we will remember you.