Trump welcomes ‘The Walking Marine’ to White House

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Monday welcomed a Marine veteran to the White House as he completed his 300-mile walk to the nation’s capital to raise awareness about the problem of veteran suicide.

Terry Sharpe, 69, was met at the Washington Monument by Karen Pence, the wife of Vice-President Mike Pence, for the final leg of his journey from Summerfield, North Carolina, to the White House grounds where he was greeted by Trump, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie and the U.S. Marine Band.

Sharpe makes the annual walk to Washington to spotlight the high rate of suicide among the nation’s military veterans. In 2017, the suicide rate for veterans was 1.5 times the rate for non-veteran adults, after adjusting for population, according to the 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report.

Sharpe, along with fellow veteran Allen Brown, completed their first 300-mile walk to the White House in 2014.