By Kendall Jarboe from KBJR-TV • May 10, 2022

An annual event supporting our local veterans returns to the Twin Ports later this month.

The Nearly Naked Ruck March is a gathering of servicemen and servicewomen, their families, and friends, to raise funds for a good cause.

The 2022 march is on Saturday, May 21. During the march, ruckers carry weight on their backs to represent the weight service members carry in the battle against trauma.

Executive Director of 23rd Veteran Mike Waldron said he served in the United States Marine Corps in 2003 and was in combat during the initial invasion into Iraq.

“It was about five years after that I fell into some pretty severe symptoms on combat stress, and it took me five years to figure it out and to pull out of it and to find hope and happiness again,” Waldron said. “So after doing that, we got a team of people together to create a fourteen-week program to help other service members after their service find that hope, happiness, and stability again.”

Money raised from the Nearly Naked Ruck March goes toward 23rd Veteran programming.

“A ruck march in the military is a training event,” Waldron said. “We put out packs on, out food, our clothes, everything we would need in combat, and we would go for a long hike, so we’re doing the civilian version of that.”

Civilians are welcome to come hike alongside the veterans. They can wear whatever backpack they want and pack it with food and clothes to donate at the end of the race.

This year the event is happening on May 21 along Mont Du Lac Road in Superior. Check-in is at 11 a.m. and the march starts at 12 p.m.