Veteran carries fellow Marine up mountain
OGDEN, UTAH (CNN) — Two veterans in Utah have an unbreakable bond forged in combat.
One of them lost his legs in Afghanistan.
Now they’re back stateside.
They still hang out and go hiking — even if that means one man has to carry his brother-in-arms.
“A few days ago I drove by and said you know what? I think I’m going to take John to the top of that, by myself,” said John Nelson, a Marine Corps veteran.
It takes a special kind of brotherhood to carry 135 pounds of weight on your shoulders up 14.3 miles of steep terrain.
“We shared a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we were and it was all worth it,” said Jonathon Blank, a Marine Corps veteran.
Blank and Nelson served in the Special Operations Unit of the Marine Corp together in Afghanistan.
“I got legs, I got legs … I couldn’t imagine if I…. [emotional pause],” said Nelson said.
Ten years ago, John stepped away from where Jonathon was standing when an explosive device went off.
“I thought this would be something epic for him to experience, to actually get to the saddle,” Nelson said.
An emotional trip from Jonathon, but also for fellow hikers who passed by.
“If that’s what they’re doing for recreation, imagine those guys on the battle field,” said hiker, Phil Casper.
“When you see that, you see that determination for them to do what they do, you want to do that for your friends and family,” said Nate Larid, who is also a hiker.
An inspiration Jonathon hopes to spark in anyone who thinks they can’t accomplish something.
“Not only have I lived through this, but we’re also special operations guys we can do anything, we can maybe instill that mindset into other people,” Blank said.
Now, the next hike John and Jonathan are planning is for Veterans Day and they’re hiking Mt. Whitney.