He has just walked 12 miles through El Centro. He had walked 12 miles a few days prior through Yuma, Arizona. And a couple weeks before that, he walked 12 miles through Tucson. He started in the Florida Keys eight months ago and by the middle of May, hopes to end up in Coronado.
His name is Ron Zaleski and he’s 74 years old. And why is he walking 2,900 miles across the country?
Zaleski is a Marine Corps veteran who served during the Vietnam War and is walking for veterans and their mental health. He’s outraged at the past treatment of veterans, and he wants to make changes – and he has already started.
People think that awareness is enough, but awareness doesn’t save lives.
Ron Zaleski
“People think that awareness is enough, but awareness doesn’t save lives,” Zaleski said in a phone interview.
He has done marathon walks before, trekking the Appalachian Trail barefoot in 2006 and then across the country barefoot in 2010 with a petition to provide counseling for veterans prior to discharge. These shoeless adventures were also for symbolic purposes – as a memorial to friends he lost in combat – and resulted in a book, “The Long Walk Home.”
Zaleski is not traveling alone this time, however. He’s with his “adopted” son, Omar Rose, 42, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran. They’ve been close since Rose was a 7-year-old.
The two men take turns walking around 12 miles a day, each segment lasting four or five hours. Whoever is not walking drives the camper they live in.
This is part of his nonprofit, The Long Walk Home, and they are able to operate this journey through donations and sponsorships. But when it’s slow, Zaleski funds this trip for both him and Rose.
This walk comes at a time when the Trump administration originally announced it was going to cut federal spending for the Department of Veterans Affairs, also known as the VA, but then a day later reversed that decision and paused the cuts.
Instead, it seems the administration proposed a 4% increase for the 2026 budget going from $129.2 billion to $134.6 billion for the VA, according to the Washington Post.
Zaleski’s history
Zaleski was in the Marine Corps from 1970 to 1972 at the tail end of the Vietnam War and to this day, he holds resentment and anger for the polarization and politicization of the soldiers who served in Vietnam.
He never went to Vietnam, and instead worked as a clerk because the military found out he could type.
But he feels empathy for the individuals who did go to war and received backlash, and even though he didn’t go, he was grouped in with those who did.
“They took me and trained me to kill for 12 weeks,” Zaleski said. “And they called me a baby killer. And they didn’t even know me and what I stood for and what I believed in, that I hadn’t killed anybody.
“…The public, the media, the politicians, everybody blamed us, they wanted to distance themselves.”
He still carries with him the weight of the words that were thrown upon him and the other soldiers.
The guys from the Vietnam era were the angriest group because, you know, we were teenagers that got blamed for the war … The ones that sent us there called us baby killers and monsters.
Ron Zaleski
“The guys from the Vietnam era were the angriest group because, you know, we were teenagers that got blamed for the war,” Zaleski said. “The ones that sent us there called us baby killers and monsters.”
It’s hard to talk about these things with people who don’t know what these veterans have been through, he explained. So, he wanted to raise awareness for a meditation program he started where veterans are able to talk about their experiences.
Rose’s history
Rose left the Coast Guard after serving 15 years. A lot of his service was spent doing search and rescue, and some of his experiences had long-term effects.
“Whether someone lived or died was in my hands,” Rose said.
“I went through a few of the VA programs. You know, inpatient treatment and different things to try to manage the PTSD and depression. It took me about three years or so to kind of work my way back to functioning again.”
Even though he went through the VA system and the traditional ways of coping with life after the military, Rose said that this walk has been the most cathartic treatment for him.
10 Challenges to Service
Zaleski and Rose wear a big sign when they’re on the road, showing everyone exactly what they are walking for. The sign says, “I’m walking from Key West, FL to San Diego, CA to stop veteran suicide.”
Rose designed the route for them, looking for the straightest way through the country. He also chose backroads and smaller highways so that people who drive by are able to have the opportunity to stop and learn about their mission.
I don’t think there’s been a day that has gone by that we haven’t met someone that’s (said), ‘I have either a direct connection to a suicide or I’ve been suicidal.’
Omar Rose
“I don’t think there’s been a day that has gone by that we haven’t met someone that’s (said), ‘I have either a direct connection to a suicide or I’ve been suicidal,’” Rose explained. “And it’s all linked to the military.”
In 2020, Zaleski started a program called the 10 Challenges to Service for veterans to focus on specific questions, often meeting in groups of five or more. But Zaleski welcomes any one-on-one sessions a veteran might want to have with him or another mentor who is part of the program.
“We have ten topics to talk about. Let’s say, the first challenge is, ‘What are you grateful for when you wake up? What are you grateful for when you end the day?’” Zaleski explained.
His program has been used locally and also brought into prisons, he noted. It’s like therapy but also a support group – it’s a conversation that’s deeper than the weather and sports, he said.
It’s still in the works and has only mentored over 200 people so far. But he wants to reach more, and that’s why Zaleski is walking.
Funding for treatment center
Rose said the goal is to find an unconventional treatment center. About 500 acres in Maine was gifted to them, he added, and that location will hopefully one day be used for the center. They’re also looking for a venue in Florida.
The facility would be unconventional because of the way Rose experienced this walk as treatment.
“I’d like to see us partnering or having different modalities of treatment if you do, you know, equine therapy or gardening or fishing or whatever,” Rose said. “Find what works for them, I think, would be very helpful.”
But, they need to gain support and awareness along the way to get to that point.
“I didn’t know how to get people’s attention because I’m not politically connected,” Zaleski admitted. “I don’t have a lot of money. So I figured, ‘What’s the best way that I can get people’s attention?’ So you do something that’s extreme like that.”
This is his third walk and it hasn’t gotten easier. After the first month, he said, he didn’t know if he could keep up the pace. But he was determined to make it even if he had to go slower.
“I brought a pair of crutches with me in case I have a problem. I’m not going to stop,” Zaleski said confidently. “I was going to complete it, but I didn’t know how.”
As much as he wants to help other veterans, he also is working through his own feelings about how he was treated in the war – even as recently as a couple weeks ago, he said with a small laugh.
“I realized later that I was still punishing myself for going against everything I believed,” Zaleski said. He was raised not to believe in violence or war. But his number was pulled for the draft lottery and he had to serve.
Zaleski said he tries not to have high expectations for his walks, otherwise he gets disappointed; but he believes the people he meets along the way are the people he’s supposed to reach.
They plan to end the journey by participating in the Navy’s 38th Bay Bridge Run/Walk in Coronado. “Part of me wants to cry because I’m so happy,” Zaleski said. “It’s going to start a different phase of this whole thing, so I’m excited about the difference we could make.”
