march

Going to Veterans March Instead of SXSW

America's Last Patrol Post #3
I heard through the grapevine that my friends over at America’s Last Patrol Post 3 are planning another march from Edinburg, Texas to San Antonio, Texas to demonstrate the need for a VA hospital in the Rio Grande Valley. The first time they did this was in November 2005. Rep. Aaron Pena documented his walk with the group on his blog. Their second walk in 2006 was from Brownsville to Rio Grande City. I was able to walk with them a couple of days and photograph the event. I am leaning towards joining them on their latest march. I am not a veteran, but I do recognize the need for a hospital in South Texas and could lend a hand in helping them get the word out about the trek.

Background

This group, along with several other veterans groups, have consistently worked hard over the years to get Congress to open up a VA hospital in the RGV. Their efforts have yielded a VA clinic in Harlingen, which is great for simple medical conditions; however, veterans must make the trip to San Antonio for more serious problems. Travel expenses and lodging are often a big hurdle for many vets to receive treatment. Another problem is that the VA hospital and clinics get hit with a large increase in veterans every year during the winter season, making timely care almost impossible. Even with a good measure of success towards their goal, South Texas veteran groups have to keep working towards their ultimate goal.

What You Can Do

Most importantly, you could help spread the word about the event. Let people know that it’s coming. You might join us along the route. You could donate some money to the cause. I’ll set up a page where you can sponsor miles. The total walk is over 200 miles.

What I’ll be doing

I will be marching with the veterans, first of all. I’ll also be taking pictures along the way. I will do my best to post to Utterli and this blog. I’ll also enable my Google Latitude so that you can track our progress; my Latitude account is shaine.mata@gmail.com.

If you want more information about the march, contact Jesus Bocanegra at 956.246.8342. If you want more information about what I’m doing, call me at 956.205.0706.

UPDATE

Here are websites created for the March to San Antonio
http://www.marchtosanantonio.tumblr.com/
http://marchtosanantonio.webs.com/