Omar Rose (L) and Ron Zaleski (R) have finished their walk across America, advocating for veterans and their mental health. They have walked a total of 2,900 miles from Florida to Coronado. Staff photo by Madeline Yang.

Ron Zaleski, who served two years in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and Omar Rose, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, finished their 2,900 mile hike across the United States on May 13.

Zaleski and Rose started in Key West, Florida with the goal of walking all the way to Coronado. They started on Sept. 11 last year and eight months later, arrived on the island.

The journey was part of Zaleski’s nonprofit, The Long Walk Home, in advocacy of his 10-step program known as the 10 Challenges to Service. This program was designed to be a combination between a support group and a therapy session, with mentors leading a group of five or more people and tackling 10 pre-written questions.

They’ll be in San Diego for about two weeks, hoping to plan a 10 Challenges to Service session before they head back to Florida.

A date and time for a session will be posted on their website in the next couple of days. Veterans, family members and civilians are all invited to join.

(L-R) Chuck Chaldekas, Omar Rose and Ron Zaleski stand at the Vietnam Memorial at Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado. Rose and Zaleski just walked 2,900 miles across the country advocating for veterans and their mental health and ended their journey in San Diego. Chaldekas is a retired Navy SEAL who oversees the Vietnam Memorial site. Staff photo by Madeline Yang.

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Madeline Yang is a reporter for The Coronado News, covering the City of Coronado, the U.S Navy and investigating the Tijuana/Coronado sewage issue. She graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University with her Bachelors in Journalism with an emphasis in Visual Storytelling. She loves writing, photography and videography and one day hopes to be a filmmaker. She can be reached by phone at 916-835-5843.