Guardsmen march 101 miles through North Georgia

By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

On Thursday, eight of the original 10 national guardsmen were about midway through their 101-mile march from Toccoa to Atlanta.

Several of them were limping and some were singing as they neared their stopping place for the night – a hotel in Buford.

Actually, said Lt. John Ubriaco, the national guardsmen will have walked 106 to 109 miles in 30 to 32 hours by the time they reach the end of Saturday’s Veterans Day parade route.

But for publicity purposes, they are claiming only 101 miles because that’s what the Army unit marched in 1942 before they were deployed to Europe. Lt. Col. Robert Sims wanted American soldiers to supplant the Japanese as holders of the  endurance marching record before fighting in World War II.

“We are doing this march to honor the … legacy,” Ubriaco said.

The march, following the 1942 route, was re-enacted twice before -- in 2002 and 2005. There were no marches in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007 because of deployments.

“Right now everyone is walking very well,” Ubriaco said.

They had. They were rested. And they changed their socks.

All were in combat uniforms and carrying a rucksack with a change of clothes and socks, personal hygiene items, rain gear and a sleeping bag.

Each carried a rubber replica of an M16.

The goal is for the men – in their 20s and mid 30s – to walk 33 miles a day.

“Some cannot make the entire march,” Ubriaco said, explaining that combat boots were hard on their feet. “But its more important for them to be out there.

Friday they will bed down on the Oglethorpe University campus, the same site where the soldiers rested in December 1942.

They will meet the parade in Midtown and lead it to the end at Centennial Olympic Park.