Walking a mile in their shoes

KUSA - An Idaho man is walking across the country to honor U.S. troops killed in Iraq. He started out in Carson City, Nevada back in December and just recently passed through Colorado.

Damion Maynard says he feels it's his duty as an American to pay tribute to the servicemen and women who have been killed.

He's walking a mile for each troop who has been killed in Iraq, meaning his journey will take him more than 3,000 miles. The five-foot flag he's carrying makes him hard to miss.

Damion says a lot of people have stopped to thank him - and many have told him he's crazy. But he says more people should want to do something like this.

He's got plenty of time to think, he says. He watches the clouds, thinks about his family and ponders what it must be like in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Damion relies on the generosity of strangers to make his tribute to fallen soldiers a reality. He doesn't carry any cash, just a few supplies - like beef jerky, dried fruit and sunflower seeds. He also has a snake bite kit – just in case. But he says the most precious thing in his backpack is his log book – which has the signatures of new friends he's made along the way. Damion says he's met members of the military, retired military members and "just lots of really nice people." All of them support his efforts to bring comfort to families of fallen troops, who he says he hopes get some sense of peace, knowing someone would walk a mile for each of their loved ones. As for Damion – he says what he's doing this summer gives him great pleasure.