DEATSVILLE, Ala. (WIAT) -- In Operation Iron Ruck, veterans and active duty are traveling 151 miles to raise awareness for veteran suicide prevention. Thursday night, these veterans are also taking the time to share what they are grateful for over a Thanksgiving meal.
Though the road is long from Jordan Hare to Bryant Denny Stadium, they say it's a meaningful journey. Veterans are carrying the Iron Bowl game ball and 22 dog tags. These are to honor the 22 veterans who take their own lives every day.
"There's no inscription on them as the point is to remain nameless. The point is... that that was the statistic when [Operation Iron Ruck] started," said Ryder Burk with the Auburn Student Veterans Association. "And we are now down to seventeen, which is outstanding."
Before getting back on the road, veterans rested and shared a Thanksgiving meal at Marbury High School in Deatsville. They talked about what this ruck means to them.
"We've all known people," said Chris-Enrique Vega-Marquez, student veteran at the University of Alabama. "And at the end of the day, the dream is not to know people that have gone through this. Because we don't want this to happen. It's not- it's tough. It really is."
"There's always people down range that are taking care of our country. And they're not with their families," John Burgess, student veteran at Auburn University, said. "And this is also not just to honor them, but it's everybody else that's in the mix that's helped us get to this point. And so, being away from our families is to kind of honor the ones that aren't with their families as well."
Also walking in the ruck is 78-year-old Ray Looney, who served in Vietnam. Regardless of the theater, he said veterans have a lot in common.
"We all have stories of being somewhere we don't want to be, but having Thanksgiving dinner of some sort together," said Looney. "And that's the essence of our camaraderie."
Bill Schwenk, coordinator for Operation Iron Ruck, said this week is about more than a game.
"And you'll hear people say, 'War Eagle' and 'Roll Tide' at the same time," explained Schwenk. "And I think, secretly, we kind of like hearing it, man. Because we know when they say it, it's about more than a game. It's about our family, man, and we're really fighting and digging in for them."
Back on the road, participants said they will arrive in Tuscaloosa Friday night. They will deliver the game ball on Saturday right before the Iron Bowl kicks off at 2:30 p.m.