On the third and final day of the 2009 Jacob Wetterling Freedom Walk for Missing and Abducted Children, Vietnam vets accompanied by Jacob's father Dr. Jerry Wetterling, are met by Jacob's mother Patty Wetterling upon arriving at the site where 11-year-old Jacob was abducted on Sunday, October 22, 1989, about half a mile from the Wetterling home in rural St. Joseph, Minn.
After a prayer, three rifle rounds are fired as the universal symbol of letting the missing or lost know they're being searched for.
Video by Aubrey Immelman
More information:
http://www.immelman.us/news/jacob-wetterling-20-years-on/
http://www.immelman.us/news/jacob-wetterling-freedom-walk/
Story as reported by the St. Cloud Times:
Veterans Raise Awareness of Missing Children
By Dave Aeikens
St. Cloud Times
December 21, 2009
ST. JOSEPH — Twenty years ago, Mike Clark and a group of Vietnam veterans walked from Anoka to the St. Joseph home of Jerry and Patty Wetterling.
They ended their three-day walk on Christmas Day. Clark has organized the walk every five years to mark the disappearance of the Wetterlings son Jacob and other missing children.
On Sunday, Clark, who is 63, completed the 60-mile, three-day journey for the last time.
Patty Wetterling was waiting for the 20 walkers at the spot where Jacob was last seen 20 years ago in October. Jerry Wetterling was with the walkers.
The strength of having this steadfast group of veterans is beyond words, said Wetterling, her voice cracking after a brief ceremony in the cool December air. They came to our house Christmas Day that first year and they have never quit. We are extremely grateful.
Clark carried U.S. and Missing In Action flags the final yards of the trip and declared the trip as much of a success as it could be.
If we accomplished what we really wanted, that would be an end to child abduction but that is not possible, Clark said as he walked through a quiet St. Joseph neighborhood where people were shoveling their walks.
All we can do is walk to bring attention to it, so we have certainly done that.
Along the way, people dropped off pizza and ice cream and the group caught the attention of some TV news crews.
Clark and six others made all three legs of the trip. It started Friday with a stretch from Anoka to Big Lake. The walkers, some carrying red and white signs identifying their cause, were trailed by a white van with a yellow flashing light. They would go home for the night and then return.
On Saturday, they traveled from Big Lake to St. Cloud and on Sunday it was St. Cloud to St. Joseph, completing the journey at the Wetterling home south of St. Joseph, not far from the desolate spot among the cornfields where Jacob Wetterling was abducted 20 years ago.
The group stopped at the spot to say a short prayer and fire a rifle given to Clark by Mike Strand, who died in 2004. Strand was among the original walkers in 1989. The shot echoed through the countryside. The rifle shots symbolize those who are missing, Clark said.
For all the pain people go through, the blisters, its worth it, Clark said.
http://www.sctimes.com/article/20091221/NEWS01/112200043/1009/Veterans-raise-...
Story as reported by KSTP 5 TV:
Vets March for Jacob Wetterling to be the Last
By Michelle Knoll
KSTP 5 Eyewitness News
Minneapolis-St. Paul
December 20, 2009
A group of Vietnam veterans finished a 63-mile walk for missing and abducted children Sunday.
They started the annual three-day walk from Anoka to St, Joseph when Jacob Wetterling went missing twenty years ago.
Jacob's father, Jerry Wetterling joined veterans on this year's walk. His son, Jacob, was abducted from a rural road in St. Joseph in October of 1989.
"There is always a part of you that is sad because this hasn't been resolved and there are people evil enough to do that type of thing," said Vietnam veteran Steve Ruud.
The veterans do short walks each year, saving the longer treks to mark the big anniversaries.
"Twenty years ago we were at that same spot thinking a little ways down the road he'll be returned or we'd find out, here we are 20-years later not having that, come about," said Vietnam veteran Roger Bobby.
The veterans are hoping the walk will help raise awareness and keep cases like Jacob's in the public eye.
"They understand what families go through with loss," said Jerry Wetterling.
However, when the group reached the Wetterling home this time they said this would be the last. The men, who are now in their sixties, say the grueling three-day march is just too much.
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1323716.shtml?cat=1
KSTP video available at link above
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Jacob Wetterling Missing Children Walk (Part 4)by aimmelman259 views
check out the stearntruth channel for eye opening videos of the truth the people covering this up don't want you to see.
kfresh1313 4 months ago