Our walk today was dedicated in honor of:
Navy EMN3 Jacob Elliott Slocum, Age 23 of Elmhurst, IL.
Died Dec. 5, 2022
He graduated from York High School in 2018 and immediately left for Basic Training at Great Lakes Naval Station in entrance to the United States Navy. Blessed with such great intelligence, Jacob graduated from the United States Navy’s Nuclear Power Program. He served his country aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN71) deploying through the South China Sea.
Jacob enjoyed various video games and spent his Friday nights while in high school playing Dungeons and Dragons and Magic with his best buddies. Jacob had a beautiful gentle soul, willing to help anyone when needed.
What an amazing 25.42 mile walk today. We left the house at around 5am. What a beautiful sunrise we had up here on the mountain. Carl, Robert, Jacob and I all headed west on Sparta Hwy. We made a quick stop for water at the Pleasant Hill Market. They were so nice to run in and grab us some waters. We then headed out and got just a mile or so and a truck stopped. it was a Marine Veteran and his parents. They gave us some waters and we got to talk about what we were doing. They were not from here. We then continued our walk. Our next stop was at the Smith Chapel Church where we met up with my daughter, her husband and our three granddaughters. They supplied us with cold water and we got to sit in the air condition for a few and visit. We then continued on down the mountain. We had another person stop and give us water. Walked a little ways and heard a bunch of people clapping and cheering us on. It was a family reunion. We stopped and visited with these nice people. Their was a ww2 veteran and a Vietnam War veteran their. It was a great honor to meet them. We continued down the mountain and came to the lookout. We were getting really tired by then. The heat had already gotten to us even though we had been drinking plenty of water. We took a break in the shade and a car pulled up. We got to meet some nice people and talk about what we were doing. They wanted to take a photo. We then continued on. We only had about 5 miles to go at that point. We were all supporting each other and giving each other words of encouragement at this point. My other daughter met up with us and gave us some cold waters. While we were resting a little another car pulled up. I believe a Army Veteran and he dropped off more waters. We only had about 2 miles to go at this point. it was well over 90 deg. at this point but we kept going. As we walked by the ice cream shop in town the lady came out and invited us in for water and ice cream. That little break really helped. It was great once we reach the Veterans Memorial Park down town Sparta. We had made it. I want to thank everyone who honked, waved, and saluted in helping us honor this hero. We had 752 honks. it was just amazing all the support we got. Kids were clapping, waving. people on Motorcycles where saluting and giving us thumbs up. It was just amazing.
Navy EMN3 Jacob Elliott Slocum will not be forgotten !
