Army Vet Runs Across America Planting Flags for Each Soldier Killed in Afghanistan Daily Mail UK
go to original November 12, 2012

Follow Mike Ehredt on his 2,146-mile journey. (ProjectAmericaRun)

A war veteran has completed a 2,146-mile run from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico stopping every mile to plant a flag in memory of fallen U.S. soldiers. Mike Ehredt, 51, jogged a marathon every day with a pram full of mini Stars and Stripes for servicemen and women who died in Afghanistan.

His journey, Project America Run, ended in Galveston, Texas, on Veterans Day yesterday, where he was joined by hundreds of runners for the last section of his run.

He completed the very last mile alone and planted the final flag at the water's edge, concluding a gruelling tribute that began in International Falls on the Canadian border in August.

'There's a lot of satisfaction in that,' he said.  'Just being able to create that wall (of flags) from north to south and touch the water of the Gulf, you can't really explain it. I just wanted to do something for them, something genuine and pure that no one would replicate.'

The route was carefully planned to ensure the number of miles matched the number of soldiers killed during the Afghan conflict.

Along the way, he was fed, housed and watered by families in each city he passed through. Some also joined him for the flag-planting ceremonies to honour their loved ones.

The Idaho veteran told ABC News: 'I had a mother meet me where her son's flag was being placed. There was even a lady from the Houston paper who did five miles with me, and I put a flag in her hand, with the name on it, and it kind of gets them. It's powerful.'

As a grandfather-of-three, Mr Ehredt admitted that some people may wonder how he was able to withstand running 26 miles on each of his 81-day trip. But he said he 'never looked at the bigger picture' and treated each run 'like going to work'.

He says he may now go on to write a book about his travels.

'I figure if I have the patience to run 13 million steps, I could probably write about them,' he told the Houston Chronicle.

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