WalkforVets.org is dedicated to raising awareness of PTSD, TBI, MST, and veteran suicide through community engagement, advocacy, and outreach. We honor the stories and sacrifices of our nation’s veterans by walking alongside them, supporting those in crisis, and ensuring their lives, struggles, and legacies are never forgotten. Through every mile walked, we strive to inspire hope, foster understanding, and connect veterans and their families with the support they deserve.

Their stories mattered. Their lives mattered. Every step mattered. 🇺🇸

WalkforVets.org, formerly known as Buddy Watch Walk, was founded in 2019 to raise awareness of the challenges facing veterans and service members, including PTSD, TBI, MST, addiction, homelessness, benefits issues, and veteran suicide. The journey began on October 1, 2019, when founder John Ring stepped off from Tybee Island, Georgia, on a mission to ensure veterans know they are not forgotten. What started as one man's walk has grown into a nationwide movement of veterans, advocates, families, and supporters committed to saving lives and honoring those who served.

Since 2019, WalkforVets.org has:

• Walked more than 6,600 miles across 36 states.

• Completed a 2,500-mile cross-country walk from Georgia to California in 2020.

• Completed a 601-mile walk from Mississippi to Georgia in 2020.

• Launched the #22States22Days campaign in 2022, walking at 22 state capitols in 22 consecutive days to raise awareness of veteran suicide.

• Completed the PTSD Warrior's Walk from Key West, Florida, to San Diego, California, delivering a U.S. flag to the son of U.S. Marine veteran Steven Osborne in honor of his father's legacy and to raise awareness about veteran suicide.

In addition, WalkforVets.org has visited and partnered with more than 175 American Legion Posts and over 50 Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Posts across the United States, building a network of support and advocacy for veterans and their families.

Today, the mission continues through annual awareness walks led by veterans and advocates across the country, including:

• U.S. Navy Veteran Jason Hanner's annual walk across Kimball County, Nebraska.

• U.S. Army Veteran Rob Street's annual walk in Spirit Lake, Idaho.

• U.S. Air Force Retired Bernadette and Chris Brocco's veteran awareness walks throughout the Delaware region.

Through every mile walked, every story shared, and every veteran reached, WalkforVets.org remains dedicated to one simple message:

Their stories mattered. Their lives mattered. Every step mattered.

FINAL CRY FOR HELP

Remembering U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Steven Osborne EOW May 10, 2022

I'm sorry for leaving this way. But it's the only option now to end this internal pain, sorrow and depression. I hope now with this letter, it will send a message to the VA. And not just another forgotten letter that the VA hides in its closets full of dead souls from those who served proudly but came home broken like me, asking for help but had the door slammed in their face, like a telemarketer getting hung up on because you don't have 2 minutes to listen to what they have to say. That's how the VA treats its veterans.

I didn't want it to go this way but I can't continue to get the help I need when the VA denies my mental health and physical pain, and they decrease my percentage to continue financially. $1,000 a month isn't going to allow me to go on to get full-time treatment and physical care. They pushed me to this level.

It would be nice to work normally like the rest of society. But I've been out since 2012 and I've yet to know how to be a part of society still. My mind hasn't been able to get back to normal and I'm not the only one, I can assure you that.

They say community is healthy for treatment and mentality, but why am I allowed to go to a Chuck E. Cheese with my son at an arcade but can't be seen in person physically with a VA doctor for depression and suicidal thoughts or even fellowship with other veterans? Because everything is all done through a computer and everyone talking over each other and it gets too chaotic. I've been suffering isolation to begin with. But the VA has the ultimate decision.

And that's why I'm hoping this letter reaches far out to every facility so there will be no more veterans doing this. And they can finally get the help and the VA reconstructs the useless practice they call care.

Anthony Brown from Loma Linda VA STAR Program, I love you my brother. Nothing you did was ever questioned.

Davidson, I love you too brother.

Stacey Allen from Veterans Claim Insider, thank you brother for doing what you can to help me. I'll never forget the random phone call just to make sure I was okay at the time.

To my fellow Marines, and veterans of all branches, my brothers whom I served with and those men and women I didn't serve with, I'm sorry for leaving this way, but of all people, you should know exactly the despair and pain I have, and the hopelessness that comes with VA care. I hope you spread the awareness.

Mom, please don't hurt for too long as time goes on and days become brighter. I'm sure you know I'm an atheist, so please don't think of this like heaven or hell. I'm at complete rest and in this beautiful state called nothingness. It's completely free of any feeling, emotion, and thought. I'm with the universe, the earth, and I'm living through your consciousness and memories. If there is a place outside of reality called afterlife then that's a bonus, but I'm fine being here in complete silence. I love you.

To the rest of my family, I love you all. Don't hurt for me for too long. Keep me going with good memories and fun times we all had.

To everyone I ever hurt, I'm sorry. Mayra Palacios, Veronica Flores, Melanie Gutierrez, Veronica Barrera, my old best friend, and the rest of those I hurt, I'm sorry.

Cassandra, I love you. I always have. I'm sorry I didn't show you how much I loved you and appreciated your sacrifices and help. I'm sorry for being a burden on you and always hurting you. I really did try. I tried to get well and get better even when it looked like I wasn't, with all the fights and outbursts, screaming and bringing you down with my explosive anger.

I'm sorry. Please take care of my dog and please help my son to realize that daddy was very sick and that I love him so much. But this sickness is too strong to bear any longer.

If I can ask everyone who reads my final letter to do something for me, please forward this to people you know and to veterans you have in your life. To allow this letter to be felt far from where I leave you all today...to open the door to more.

— Steven Osborne

Losing my son, U.S. Army veteran Trey Ring, on January 7, 2026, changed my life forever. As the founder of WalkforVets.org, I have spent years advocating for veterans struggling with PTSD, TBI, MST, suicide prevention, and the challenges that often follow military service. I have walked thousands of miles, listened to countless stories, and stood beside veterans and their families during some of their darkest moments. Yet nothing could have prepared me for the pain of losing my own son.

Trey served his country honorably during his deployment to Iraq in 2018-2019. Like many veterans, he carried burdens that were often unseen by those around him. Despite the love of his family and those who cared about him, he lost his battle after years of struggling with the invisible wounds of war.

His passing left behind a family who loved him deeply—his parents, two sisters, a brother currently serving in the military, his fiancée, his young daughter, and two bonus sons. It also left a hole in the hearts of everyone who knew him.

Trey's death made this mission more personal than ever. What was once advocacy for fellow veterans became advocacy as a grieving father. His story serves as a painful reminder that veteran suicide is not just a statistic—it is a son, a father, a brother, a fiancé, and a friend. It affects entire families and communities.

Today, I continue the mission of WalkforVets.org in Trey's honor. Every mile walked, every conversation held, and every effort made to support veterans and their families carries his memory forward. While I cannot change what happened, I can continue fighting for awareness, support, and hope so that other families may be spared the heartbreak that mine has endured.

Trey's life mattered. His story matters. And his memory will continue to inspire our mission to ensure that no veteran feels forgotten and no family walks this journey alone.

— John Ring, Founder