SILVIS, Illinois – A local veteran took it upon himself to walk 22 miles in memory of one of another fellow veteran.
Leo Kaalbert, better known as “Doc”, served as a combat medic in Iraq.
Now, he and a few others walked 22 miles around the Quad Cities, stopping at different veteran memorials.
This walk was in memory of Brandon Ketchum, a Quad City veteran who took his life to post traumatic stress disorder.
The 22-mile walk was to raise awareness for veterans now dealing with PTSD and suicide prevention
“The statistic is 22 miles for 22 veterans, typically 22 veterans take their lives on a daily basis. And dealing with depression and any one of those things are affecting their PTSD,” says Kaalbert.
Kaalbert was in Iraq for four tours and during that time he earned two purple hearts.
