Suffolk County Legislator Chad Lennon, a Rocky Point Republican and Marine reservist, plans to walk 66 miles across Suffolk County in 26 hours to raise awareness of veteran suicide and to urge community involvement.
Lennon intends to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at a firehouse in Orient on the North Fork and walk nonstop to the Suffolk County government offices in Hauppauge, aiming to arrive by 11 a.m. Sunday. When he reaches Armed Forces Plaza, Lennon will raise a suicide-awareness and remembrance flag and pay respects to Marine Cpl. Keith Anthony Miller, a Suffolk County resident who died by suicide 10 years ago.
Lennon, 45, said the walk is a "boots-on-the-ground" effort intended to spotlight what he described as an epidemic. "We're losing more veterans by their own hand than when we were at war with Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia in the global war on terror over the past 20 years," he said. Lennon has cited the commonly reported figure that about 22 veterans take their own lives each day nationwide.
A Purple Heart recipient, Lennon survived an improvised explosive device blast while on active duty in Afghanistan about 15 years ago. He said he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in July. Lennon described the military culture of "toughing out" trauma and urged veterans to seek help. "When you're at war, that's what you have to do," he said. "But there's time to come forward to say, 'hey, I'm having an issue,' and that's fine."
The overnight walk will be divided into a series of checkpoints spaced across several miles so members of the public can join for short segments. Lennon said he and a handful of other Marines will carry a remembrance flag throughout the trek and that participants can show solidarity by joining at towns along the route or by meeting near the final stopping point, a Dunkin' at the intersection of routes 111 and 347, about two miles from the finish.
"Just like we do in the military, it takes a unit to accomplish the mission," Lennon said. "Our mission now is to stop this." He encouraged residents to check on one another, urging people to call 22 people a month "just to see how they're doing," whether those contacts are veterans or civilians.
The walk was scheduled ahead of National Military and Veterans Suicide Awareness Day on Sept. 22. Lennon said Suffolk County, which he characterized as having the largest veteran population in New York, presents a local focus for outreach and preventive action.
Lennon framed the effort as a community responsibility that mirrors civilian support roles in past wars. He asked residents to join portions of the walk if possible and to participate in ongoing outreach to friends and family. The legislator also noted the physical demands of carrying a flagpole through the night and said the discomfort is a deliberate part of the message: that physical pain can be an external representation of the internal struggles some veterans face.
Organizers encouraged those who want to participate or to meet Lennon along the route to check local announcements for meeting points and checkpoint times. Officials and local veterans' groups were not immediately available for comment.
The event is part of a broader push by veterans, elected officials and advocacy groups to reduce suicide among those who served, through outreach, expanded mental health services and community engagement.