BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Anna Judd, an avid runner from Santa Ana, Calif., has always had a cross-country trek on her "bucket list." She is now making that dream come true, having left Venice Beach, Calif., in March for a 3,200-mile run that should put her in New York City by the end of July.
But she is not doing it just for herself.
Judd is using her "Anna Runs America" project – and the media attention it attracts in the cities along her route – to raise public awareness of the problem of suicide among America's military veterans.
Judd is also raising money for two non-profits that help veterans -- Team Red White and Blue and The Wounded Warrior Project.
She made a stop in Birmingham this morning at the St. Benedict's Veterans Center on First Avenue North in Woodlawn, about half a block from Woodlawn High School. She arrived at the center with her support team in the RV that transports her to and from the start and end points of her runs each day, which average about 35 miles.
"I decided to run across the country, and I saw it as a platform for doing something, and after I did a lot of research and a lot of soul-searching, I read a lot about what veterans are going through, and I saw this issue was really important to address right now," Judd said.
"I am trying to make people aware that it's important to be really, really grateful for our warriors, and we should be treating them like returned warriors, because that's what they are," she said.
Of course, there are physical challenges on her trek, according to Judd. "I'm sore, and I hurt every single day, and I'm fatigued," she said. "And there are environmental challenges, because the weather is so hot right now. This morning, I had to wake up at 1 a.m. to start in the dark to beat the heat."
But when things get though for Judd, she said she keeps the veterans in mind.
"I know there are a lot of wounded warriors out there. I've met a lot of them," she said. "when I feel like I'm too tired on one of my runs, that's who I think about – the ones who are able to run and walk and do normal things, live normal lives, even though they have disabilities from serving our country. And the more I'm on the road, I'm more and more grateful for it."
Judd posted a video in 2013 that provided an overview of the project.
Judd was greeted upon her arrival in Woodlawn by J.D. Simpson, president and founder of the non-profit Three Hots & A Cot veterans' group that manages St. Benedict's.
Simpson said it was "humbling" for his center to be picked as a stop on Judd's running tour and said that suicide and hopelessness are serious problems among veterans.
"We've experienced (suicide) here," he said. He said he has known one veteran in their program who committed suicide, as well as six others who were not in the program but whom the center had tried to reach out to before they killed themselves.
"It's a never-ending thing to try to predict," he said. "We try to help every veteran we can as much as we can. We are seeing depression and PTSD to a degree that we haven't seen in years. They are reaching out and screaming for help in some ways."
"These guys come back and they don't feel like they fit in due to what they've seen," Simpson said, adding that these veterans are coming back in numbers we haven't seen since World War II.
He said a lot of times he is unable to help veterans who call "because I don't have any beds."
However, he said there are some other resources in towns for veterans, including the Veterans Administration Hospital. Simpson said that facility and its staff are "phenomenal," despite the bad press the V.A. has gotten nationally in recent months.
Simpson said his organization is trying to enlist other community partners to increase the services available to vets, including job training and financial literacy.
Ala. State Rep. Dickie Drake (R-Leeds), a U.S. Air Force veteran and an advocate for veteran's issues in the state, also greeted Judd.
Drake is a member of the Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee in the Legislature and said that he served in the U.S. Air Force for 42 years, until 2006, and saw action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Desert Storm.
"People who haven't been to war don't know what it's all about," he said. "It's a strain on the individual. PTSD is definitely a problem."
Regarding the problem of suicide by veterans, Drake said, "We have to make people aware of that as they interact with veterans so they can help prevent it."
The Wounded Warrior Project deserves support, according to Drake. Wounded soldiers who return from combat and find themselves in hospitals are often left "sort of in the dark," he said. "They don't feel appreciated, because there's no way for the general public to interact with them."
He praised Judd, saying that "she is doing something extraordinary." He said he would have his picture taken with her, put it on Facebook and challenge all the other legislators to make a donation.
The act of running across country would not have meant much without some larger purpose, according to Judd.
"It just seems like it would be a wasted opportunity not to try to make a difference," she said today. "When you decide to run across the country, I think you're looking for a transformation experience also, and what better way than to help others."
Judd suggested that many Americans take it for granted how fortunate we are in this country. "I can run from California to New York without going through a single war zone," she said. "That's a miracle. That comes at a cost. I want to respect and honor that cost."
For more information about Judd's trek across country – as well as links to video, a map of her route and a list of her charity partners – go to www.annarunsamerica.com.
Learn more about Team RWB at http://teamrwb.org.
To learn more about the Wounded Warrior Project, go to www.woundedwarriorproject.org.
For more news from Birmingham, go to www.al.com/birmingham.