Raises funds for homeless vets
Raises more than $3,000 for homeless veterans

JAY – An Iraq War veteran from North Jay, who went to Georgia five months ago then walked more than 2,000 miles back to Maine while raising awareness to the nation’s homeless veterans, says his mission was successful.

Jarad Greeley, 26, who was 25 when he began hiking the Appalachian Trail on March 8, finished the journey on Saturday when he and family and friends summited Mount Katahdin, the 2,175-mile trail’s northern terminus.

“It didn’t even feel real,” Greeley said Thursday in Jay. “It took a little bit to kick in. I miss (the trail) quite a bit, but I knew it was coming to an end at some point.”

“It was just awesome to be at the top with him and taking his picture,” mom Carolyn Greeley said, standing nearby. “It was very moving and emotional, and to try and capture what he was feeling, too.”

During the journey, Greeley’s sponsors, VFW District 9 Cmdr. Palmer Hebert and Lynn Dunton, the post’s past president, helped him raise more than $3,300.

“I got out of the trail what I wanted to … and I also feel that everything I accomplished was a success as far as raising awareness goes,” Jarad Greeley said.

“No matter how much we raised, I would still consider it successful. Not only did we raise more than I thought, just all of the local support I had made me pretty happy. Ninety percent of the money raised came from my hometown.

“So that really caught me off guard to see there was that much support. I don’t feel that I could have done more, because I spent every dime I had from my own pocket on the trip. Everyone I saw on the trail, I told them what I was doing. I wasn’t asking people to give, I just told them about the problem of so many homeless veterans out there and the need to do something about it as a nation,” he added.

Hiking under the trail name “Cuda” -short for Barracuda, his favorite car – Greeley said the black POW-MIA flag he carried on the outside of his backpack drew people to him. He’d give them the address of his Web site, “Hike for Homeless Vets.”

“They’d stop and ask me why I was wearing it and I would tell them, so, by the time they figured out what I was doing – that it was for a good cause – most people would get on the Web site and donate. And for those who didn’t or couldn’t donate, I asked them to spread the word. Raising awareness was the most important thing,” Greeley said.

The second most important thing gained from the 21-week journey was a greater appreciation for home life.

“I learned how important time is with family and friends. The trail made me appreciate the small things even more so than when I got home from Iraq. The trail’s been pretty good to me. I’ve been able to put the whole Iraq chapter of my life behind me and move on,” he said.

Greeley, a former sergeant, served four years with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, which included a 15-month tour in Iraq. His job as a forward observer was to radio in coordinates for artillery, mortar and bomb strikes on targets.

He cited discipline learned in the military for helping him to persevere when the going got tough. He lost 30 pounds in his first 30 days of hiking. His backpack weight also dropped from 47 pounds to 35 in the first week.

Greeley’s journey occurred during one of the wettest years on record in many states along the Eastern seaboard. After topping Mount Lafayette in New Hampshire in mid July, it rained every day except the last four of the trek.

Despite everything, he wants to hike the Pacific Crest Trail or Continental Divide Trail out West. But it will have to wait, since he’s moving within the next few weeks to Colorado with his fiance, Janna Deane of Jay, to work, live and attend college.