six mornings a week at about 6 45
Shawn Tobin laces up his shoes grabs a
couple of bottles of water and steps off
for a roughly two and a half hour
journey through
Chattanooga i'm starting to see the same
families
and they will scream honk their horn he
starts in the bluff view arts district
then to the riverwalk and on to Amnicola
Highway
first couple weeks i used to count just
out of curiosity how many people honked
it was usually during the weekday
350 to 400. he says he's had some
negative interactions but he says
they've been 98 percent positive
a little less than 40 years ago the
early 1980s
Tobin joined the Army he told me he was
special forces
my unit was down in honduras and parts
of Central America we trained
contras got to go to uh korea teen
spirit so got to see a little bit of the
world and i think that
afforded me the opportunity once i
became an educator
to kind of help out kids to realize that
there's more to the world than just the
United States of America
and how lucky we really are to live in
this country Tobin says his father was
born in Ireland came to Chicago at 16
worked in the iron mills there he says
his father taught him hard work
and love for this country that's one
reason he walks he also says
he saw people on tv burning the American
flag during protests recently
that's another reason he does this but
that's not the whole story
one of the big reasons i do this is for
the veterans he told us about an uncle
who fought in Vietnam
and other veterans he's known through
the years as a veteran
i realize this isn't just a symbol this
really is hope
and i think about the veterans on my
mom's side of the family
the people who have suffered who have
died for the country
