Veteran hikes 800 miles for suicide prevention

Marine veteran Travis Snyder hiked halfway around Lake Michigan in 42 days, starting in the town of Manistee, Mich. He posted daily updates about his trip on Facebook, and people began getting involved. They joined him for different stretches of the journey, hosting him overnight, making him a meal, or just meeting up to say hello. He finished his trek on Sunday.

What inspired the walk? One of Snyder’s friends from his deployment in Afghanistan committed suicide in April, he told CNN. He wanted to bring awareness to the high rates of suicide among veterans and encourage people to support those they know. He serves as an ambassador of Mission 22, an organization that works to prevent such suicides.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Edward Lee Pitts’ report on the high suicide rate among combat veterans and how the military and ministries are trying to help.