Navy Vet Swims Mississippi to Honor Families of the Fallen
Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Minn. | Jul 17, 2015 | by Ben Bartenstein
At the bank of the Mississippi in Becker, Minn., Taylor Roark leaned over a yellow-and-white kayak and wrote a message to a man he struggles to remember.
Chris Ring, a 28-year-old Tennessean with a sandy blond beard, kneeled next to him in a wetsuit.
"We miss you, Dad," Roark wrote.
Ring, a 10-year Navy combat veteran, is nearly one-fifth of the way through a 2,552-mile swim down North America's longest river.
He is swimming on behalf of Legacies Alive, a Washington, Pa., nonprofit that honors the families of the more than 6,800 service members killed in what it calls the global war on terrorism.
Ring is expected to pass through St. Paul early next week as he aims for a Nov. 11 (Veterans Day) arrival at the Gulf of Mexico.
If Ring completes his journey, he will be the first American and second person ever to swim the Mississippi in its entirety.
The last time Roark, a 16-year-old from Zimmerman, Minn., saw his dad, Army Staff Sgt. Timothy Roark, was more than a decade ago. Timothy Roark deployed to Iraq and was killed in 2005.
As Roark stood up, Valerie Kennedy, 54, from Inver Grove Heights, wrapped him in her arms. Four years ago, her son, Army Spc. Joseph Kennedy, was killed in Afghanistan.
"My heart is so warm, I have chills," said Deb Cedergren of Waite Park, whose son, David, a Navy corpsman, was killed in 2004 in Iraq.
The three Gold Star family members joined Thursday morning as they sent Ring off along the Mississippi.
"The day no one says their loved one's name again is what they fear," Ring said.
Ring took off from the river's headwaters at Itasca State Park on June 6 and has swum about 16 miles each day. In the first three weeks, he lost 20 pounds and had to get fitted with a new wetsuit.
Ring is hoping to match the 2002 feat of Slovenian Martin Strel, known as the "Big River Man," who swam the Mississippi as part of his successful quest to swim the world's five greatest rivers.
Ring said his endeavor is not in pursuit of a record but rather to raise awareness for Gold Star families, the surviving relatives of fallen service members. In his first month, Ring has met with nearly 50 Gold Star families.
Ring's voyage is the second big challenge for Legacies Alive. Last year, Mike Viti, the nonprofit's co-founder, walked more than 4,400 miles as he met hundreds of Gold Star families.
"When you have the car drive up to your house, you know before they say the words," said Kennedy, recalling the day an Army chaplain and notification officer shared the news of her son's death.
Jessica Schmit, 32, from Big Lake, lost her brother, Army Sgt. Joshua Schmit, last year when he was killed in Iraq.
She said she struggled to come to terms with his death but found solace in other Gold Star siblings.
"Even though our stories are different, they're pooled from the same similarity," she said.
While there's increased societal recognition of psychological conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression that many veterans face, military family members confront many of the same issues with even less support, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center in Silver Spring, Md.
"It's not a grief that heals," Kennedy said. "The best way to honor them is by not falling yourself."
But it's not so easy.
After her son died in 2004, Cedergren said she started having suicidal thoughts. Doctors diagnosed her with PTSD and severe depression. She said she can't attend military funerals or see a rifle because the mental images they recall are too painful.
On New Year's Day 2014, Cedergren attempted suicide and said she "saw a white light."
"I want to be with my son," she said, "but I know my grandchildren need me."
Cedergren keeps a box of papers and pictures in her house that document her son's death but has never opened it.
"I don't know if I'll ever be able to open it," she said. "No parent should lose a child."
As Ring waded into the water Thursday to begin an 18-mile swim, Cedergren yelled from shore, "Thank you!"
Roark and Kennedy smiled as they watched Ring swim into the distance.
"I feel like we're forgotten," Cedergren said, "but it's events like these that remind us we're not."
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/07/17/navy-vet-swims-mississippi-to-honor-families-of-the-fallen.html
