Col Kenny Mintz (ret)

Col Kenny Mintz (right) and his former commander, Col Mike Kershaw, carry a 10th Mountain Division Climb To Glory flag as they march along a Kansas farm road. Kershaw joined Mintz for this stretch of his walk across the USA.
(Article by Finn McNally – Herald Democrat, edited for space allocation)

Kenny Mintz, a veteran of the 10th Mountain Division, shared his personal story detailing his walking journey which took him from Washington D.C. to Encitas, California.

Mintz, a West Point graduate, served for 30 years in the U.S. Army, much of which was as a member of the 10th Mountain Division.  He served three active combat tours as an infantry officer in Afghanistan and Iraq before retiring in 2021. 

Mintz came up with the idea to walk across the country as a way to honor his fellow soldiers, both fallen and living as well as raising awareness and contributions for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, Operation Resilience and the Independence Fund.

On April 1, 2022, Mintz began his walk westward from Washington D.C. and continued for 3,300 miles to the Pacific Ocean, over the next 220 days, crossing 13 states.  Mintz walked along highways, dirt roads and hiking paths. His daughter accompanied him, following in a support van and he often spent nights in homes of friends or otherwise in motels. Mintz would write about his experiences and impressions in a daily blog which began to attract followers and inspire donations to the charitable causes.

Often, others would join Mintz, walking with him for a few hours or occasionally stretching into days. Those who joined him were sometimes friends, readers of his blog, stray dogs and especially poignant, family members of fallen soldiers. What stood out most to Mintz about his journey was the human connections he developed.

He cherished the conversations, listening to the stories, but on occasions that no companion was accompanying him, he equally cherished his experience listening to the natural world that surrounded him through his journey. He found himself noticing the different songs of the birds and greeting the many farm animals he saw along the way. Overall, he felt that he became more aware of his surroundings and more appreciative of the world around him. 

Mintz said that his journey was one of the most fulfilling and uplifting experiences of his life and it inspired him to break out of the daily routine mentality that he sees many people stuck in. He said “Force yourself to go out and take a walk and literally try to see, hear and feel everything. Mintz message to us is that there are miracles woven into life all around us all the time which we just need to take the quiet time to listen and observe, and appreciate the miraculous world we’ve been privileged to be within.