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Military.com did a column on one of the more fun vet stories of our time this week. Alvin Straight, a veteran of WWII and Korea, heard that his estranged brother Henry had had a stroke in 1994 and decided to visit – but there was a catch.<\/p>\n
The problem was, Alvin Straight suffered from diabetes, emphysema and poor eyesight. His vision was so poor, in fact, that he could no longer hold a driver\u2019s license. He didn\u2019t trust anyone he knew to drive him to see his brother, so he took a page from fellow veteran and country singer George Jones\u2019 playbook: He grabbed the keys to his riding lawn mower and headed out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Alvin’s first attempt ended after only 25 miles (the author thinks that is only three hours – I suspect he knows nothing of old lawn tractors.) So he got another, a 1966 John Deere, and set out again, camping along the way.<\/p>\n
This time, he made it 34 miles to West Bend before breaking down.<\/p>\n
Undaunted, he paid for the parts he needed to fix the old Deere and camped out on a well-wisher\u2019s lawn. When it was ready to hit the road, the repaired mower worked like a charm. For hours a day, Straight drove his mower on the shoulder of the Iowa highway. At night, he set up camp on the shoulder. He cooked, ate and slept in the trailer before picking up for the next day\u2019s journey.<\/p>\n
But the new parts weren\u2019t the only hiccup in his plan. By the time he arrived in Charles City, Iowa, some 133 miles from Laurens, Straight ran out of money. Still undaunted, he just camped out until his next Social Security check came in. He also got to drop in on one of his seven children, who happened to live in Charles City. It was about halfway to his destination.<\/p>\n
Straight continued on his journey from there, continuing on Iowa\u2019s highway 18 and crossing into Wisconsin over the Mississippi River at Marquette. On Aug. 15, 1994, the John Deere broke down once more, when Alvin was just two miles from Henry\u2019s house. It was only then that Straight would accept help when a local farmer helped him push the mower the rest of the way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Took six weeks to make the trip. If you had an eye for odd news in 1994, you could even find updates and articles on Alvin’s progress.<\/p>\n
Alvin stayed with Henry and his fifth wife for a few weeks as Henry slowly recovered from his stroke. The brothers reconciled in that time and were even seen driving to the local bars — on a riding mower.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Alvin Straight died on Nov. 9, 1996, at the age of 76. Following the hearse in his funeral procession was a trailer carrying his newest lawn mower.<\/p>\n