Veterans will carry the Iron Bowl game ball from Auburn to Tuscaloosa

Jasmine Hollie
| Tuscaloosa News

The University of Alabama and Auburn University will join forces for a week-long statewide Thanksgiving march to raise awareness about the suicide rate among veterans.

Members of the UA Campus Veterans Association and the Auburn Student Veterans Association will participate in the seventh annual Operation Iron Ruck, which was scheduled to begin in Auburn on Wednesday and end in Tuscaloosa the Saturday before Iron bowl Kickoff at 2:30 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The Ruckers will also move the Iron Bowl game ball from Auburn to Tuscaloosa.

“Operation Iron Ruck was founded in 2018 to raise awareness and funds to help fight the veteran suicide epidemic,” Blake Schickel, president of the UA Campus Veterans Association, said in a press release.

“We hope to increase public awareness of this ongoing fight while also uniting veterans within the community with a support system they can rely on,” Shickel said. “It offers a personal level of support for those who participate, as well as the potential to decompress and meet others who can relate to the struggles veterans go through.”

Student veterans from UA and Auburn will carry 22 pounds of donated materials intended to represent the estimated 22 veterans who die by suicide every day. Each student veteran will travel approximately 50 miles during the four-day trip.

“According to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there were over 6,000 veteran suicides in 2021,” Schickel said. “In the state of Alabama, we have lost 125 veterans to suicide this year, one of the highest rates in the nation.”

According to the event’s website, the organizers of Operation Iron Ruck have set a goal of raising $50,000 in 2024. For more information, including route information, resources and ways to donate, visit Operationironruck.com.

Donations collected through Operation Iron Ruck will go to Three Hots and A Cot, Mission 22, Bill Nichols State Veterans Home, Tuskegee VA Medical Center and the Houston Project.

“In the wise words of my platoon sergeant, ‘credibility is currency,’” Schickel said. “CVA strives to further legitimize and spread our message through partnerships, support and collaboration. Together we can make a difference and ensure no veteran feels left behind in their fight.”

Reach Jasmine Hollie at [email protected].