By ALENA HIGGINS
RAISING funds and awareness for the physical and mental scars left by war is the mission of a group of military veterans who will file through Warwick, Stanthorpe and Tenterfield early next week.
About 34 members of the Australian Special Air Service (SAS) Association are tackling this year’s mega challenge – a 1,300km trek on foot from Brisbane to Canberra to raise money for the Wandering Warriors charity.
John Felton, a former Vietnam tunnel rat and director of Warwick Suicide Prevention Group, knows all too well the mental struggles faced by returned servicemen and women and their families.
“The main thing is assimilating back to boring tasks like mowing your lawns and washing your cars after you have been on high alert all the time,” he said.
“The thing is you get switched on to military life and then you have got to somehow or other get switched off – and that’s the hard part.”
The team, along with their accompanying vehicles, including a Bushmaster, will rest at Warwick on Monday night before arriving, and staying overnight, at Tenterfield the next day.
While in Warwick, the community is invited to attend Scots College for a $5 barbecue dinner from 5pm, followed by a presentation for people aged 15 plus by the ex-SAS members at 7pm for $10, which offers a unique insight into the SAS regiment’s training, preparation and deployment.
Tenterfield Shire Council mayor Peter Petty will meet the wanderers at the Queensland/NSW border town of Jennings and walk the 19km into town, where Tenterfield will host its dinner and SAS talk from 6pm at the showgrounds.
Stanthorpe locals won’t miss out either.
Members of the public are invited to view the vehicles, meet the operators and donate to a worthy and relevant cause at the Stanthorpe RSL from 11am to 2pm on Tuesday.
The team is expected to finish their mammoth journey in Canberra on 16 October to coincide with the unveiling of an SAS regiment plaque at the Australian War Memorial.
The Wandering Warriors donated more than $120,000 to such carers charities as Wounded Heroes, Project Excalibur, the Commando Welfare Trust, Soldier On and the White Cloud Foundation last year.
For more information or to donate, visit www.wanderingwarriors.org
