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Chapter 54 Member
Participates in GB Fundraiser
on Appalachian Trail
Special Forces Association Chapter 54 member Ling Wong recently took part in a
fundraising effort to raise money for the Green Beret
Foundation by hiking a portion of the Appalachian Trail
(AT). A group of former Green Berets decided to raise money
for the organization by having Special Forces men do a
'relay team' hike of the entire AT. One team started from
the south end in Georgia and the other team started from
the north end in Maine. Each team consisted of many
individuals who hiked parts of the trail in relay fashion.
The US Army Special Forces veterans hiked the trail to
support their brothers and families. More info on this
fundraiser is found on the events website:
Green Beret Appalachian Trail Walk & Fundraiser
www.greenberetat.org
Ling Wong hiked a 60 mile stretch of the trail in Vermont
and Massachusetts in July. His account of the hike and some pictures is
provided below.
Sean McNeal and Ling Wong (on right) on Appalachian Trail with
Green Beret Foundation and Special Forces Regimental Flags.
McNeal passed the flags to Ling in Vermont.
The idea of a
relay along the length of the Appalachian trail from Springer
Mountain Georgia, to the summit of Mt. Katahdin in Maine by
former and current Special Forces Soldiers started as an
off-hand comment on a social media group. A former SF soldier,
Johnny Mullin, suggested the relay to raise money for the Green
Beret Foundation, a number of people (including myself) thought it
was a great idea and offered to do sections nearest to where we
lived. Before long Mullin stood up a website to promote the
relay, including a Facebook group for people who wanted to
participate. Mullin and Tom Merrill administered the Facebook
group, others offered to coordinate commo or logistics, an
OPORD was created to define how the relay would be conducted,
and the relay was split between north bound (NOBO) and south
bound (SOBO) groups. There are two generally defined types of
hikes that transverse the Appalachian Trail. Through hikers
(people who travel the entire length of the trail,
approximately 2200 miles, over a continuous 4-6 month period of
time), or section hikers (people who do the trail in sections
over a non-contiguous period of time, typically years). The
relay was created as a series of north bound and south bound
section hikes that different teams would do until they meet at
the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Mohican Outdoor Center in
Blairstown, New Jersey.
Mount Greylock War Memorial in Massachusetts on the Appalachian
Trai
While doing 20-30 mile sections of the Appalachian Trail is
very manageable, getting enough people to do all the sections
from Georgia to Maine proved to be daunting. Most of the
volunteers were clustered in certain states, logistical support
in the Northeast was sparse, though that was somewhat mitigated
by the fact that there is a higher density of towns along or
near the trail in the Northeast. Still there were gaps and
limited numbers of hikers, partly because many members of the
SF Brothers group on Facebook are still on active duty, and
others had health issues that prevented them from hiking. So
some of the hikers on the relay, JC Heit, Will Melton, Johnny
Mullin, Devin Plaskiewicz ended up doing multiple sections of
the trail, often alone (Melton hiked hundreds of miles by
himself, Plaskiewicz covered New Hampshire). Omar Carcamo flew
up to Georgia from Florida to hike several sections with his
wife Jennifer because of an injury to another hiker. It was an
extraordinary effort to accomplish this, and I include those
who provided logistical support along the way. The logistical
teams would assist hikers with INFIL or EXFIL from the AO,
resupply, emergency medical evacuations, and in some instances
to allow the hikers to “slack pack” by off-loading food, tents,
etc, so that the hikers can move faster over the difficult
terrain. Originally, I was going to do one section that crossed
from Vermont to Massachusetts with another member, there was
another section in Massachusetts that had no hiker so I
volunteered to do that one by myself. As it ended up, there was
a miscommunication and I ended up doing both sections from the
Seth Warner shelter in Vermont to Tyringham, Massachusetts by
myself, about 60 miles on the trail.
Part of the Appalachian Trail
People who know the terrain of Western Massachusetts and
Southern Vermont, know that while the elevation is modest, much
of it is a muddy, root covered rockscape, Since I was traveling
alone, I decided to try and complete it over a long weekend. My
plan was to get down from the elevation of Bennington, Vermont
to the border of Massachusetts as quickly as I could and ascend
Mt. Greylock, the tallest peak in Massachusetts (3491 feet) by
the late afternoon of the first day. As it was, the approach
was going to be a slog no matter what (it is a pretty steep
climb from North Adams to the summit) and my plan was to hit
the Mark Noepel lean-to for the night, about 3.3 miles further
up the trail from where I ended that day. Things happen on the
trail, and I gimped myself up pretty good about 2 miles into my
hike coming down a rock scramble from Vermont. There are parts
of the trail as you descend towards the Massachusetts border
from Vermont that are steep rock falls, I stepped on a wobbly
slime covered rock and I ended up splattering myself, wrenching
my knee as I tried to stabilize myself and my 40-pound plus
rucksack (when I learned at the last moment that I would be
hiking the two sections alone, I modified my packing list and
ended up overloading with gear).
Part of Appalachian Trail
2 miles into my
hike and I couldn't put any weight on my left leg, hopping
around like an angry goat trying get down the rock fall. This
was where I came to the decision that my trekking poles were
the best $100 I ever spent on gear. Still, for the rest of my
descent, I was like a giraffe on roller skates, not quite able
to apply pressure to my leg with only a limited range of motion
in my left knee, and I still had about 58 miles to go.
There were so
many thoughts in my head as I finally reached the Massachusetts
border and started towards North Adams. One of them was whether
or not I should continue, my pace had slowed considerably and
my plan was to cover the 60 miles in about 72 hours. That way I
would hit certain shelters along the way. At the pace I was
moving, I was not certain that I would be able to stick to my
plan or if I would be able to do it at all. Thing about it is
that there was no one to take my place, others on this relay
had sacrificed so much to get as far as we did, there was only
about 500 miles separating the north bound and south bound
teams. I was just a small part of it, but I did not want to let
people down. So...I just kept putting one foot in front of
another and kept moving south.
Part of Appalachian Trail
It was nightfall
when I finally got to the summit of Mt. Greylock, as the
mountain went dark, I ambled into the lodge to get a meal and
mulled about amending my plans or somehow getting back on track
over a beer and beef stew that they served that night at the
lodge kitchen (which really improved my mood), tomorrow was
another day and I'm 13+ miles closer to Tyringham, MA.
When I got up
the next morning, I was a bit more sore and my knee has puffed
up nicely - not unexpected, but I have never had edema in my
knees before - not like this. I stayed long enough to get
breakfast and another hiker who was summiting the highest peaks
in 30 different states accompanied me for the next 3.5 miles to
the Noepel Lean-To, his company made the walk much more
pleasant. We separated near the trail junction of the lean to,
as he turned back towards the summit. The town of Cheshire, MA
was just 7 more miles ahead of me. Walking on the Berkshire
plateau allowed me to make up some miles, but not enough to
completely get back on track.
Perhaps the most enduring thing that remains with me about
hiking the Appalachian Trail is the interactions with people.
They are of all ages, some on their own, others in large
groups, seemingly bound together by this journey we are all on.
It is striking how willing strangers are to provide help to
others, the dedication of those who volunteer to maintain the
trails, the anonymous kindness of the many trail angels who
leave food, water and even offer shelter at road crossings,
somewhere along the way, you might also learn something about
yourself and your willingness to live by your words and
promises to others. It brought me back 30 years to a time when
I shared a uniform with people who I have come to see as
brothers. What started as something of someone’s musing about
doing a hike, became something very real to raise money for the
Green Beret Foundation (it is about $30k right now and we are
still taking donations), it speaks to something about ourselves
and those of us who were and always will be Green Berets.
DOL
Ling Wong
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LTC William F. Buckley
Memorial Chapter
Serving Green Berets
in Massachusetts
and Beyond
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