BUFFALO, N.Y. — There's a man in Western New York who's been walking across the country to help veterans.
Navy veteran Tommy Zurhellen is walking 22 miles a day, and just over 2,600 miles overall.
That's how many veterans the V.A. says take their own lives each day.
He's been living on the street during his journey, talking with groups along the way, and trying to raise awareness and money because he says he wants to make a difference for his brothers in arms.
And part of that is learning about the struggles they face.
"For the last four months, I've learned what it's like to be a homeless veteran in America," Zurhellen said. "This walk is a little different. We don't have a support vehicle, we don't have a car carrying me around, and that experience has taught me so much about what our homeless veterans have to go through in America, and it's been a shocking experience."
Tommy's in the home stretch of his journey now, just more than 300 miles to go to the finish line, at his hometown of Poughkeepsie.
UPDATE: The Marist College professor has finished the cross-country walk to raise awareness about suicide and homelessness among veterans.
He finished his roughly cross-country trek on August 23 on the college's campus in Poughkeepsie. Zurhellen started his trip in April in Portland, Oregon.
The project has raised almost $42,000 to support Hudson River Housing's Liberty Station program for veterans, as well as the Vet 2 Vet Peer Mentoring program.
