By Christin Coyne
ccoyne@mineralwellsindex.com
Former banker, serviceman passes through Mineral Wells on cross-country trek to raise monies for Pat Tillman Foundation.
Four and a half months, 1,800 miles and four pairs of shoes since leaving the East Coast, a Chicago banker on a mission to raise $3.6 million spent much of Thursday in Mineral Wells on his walk across America.
Rory Fanning spoke to the Lions Club about his fundraiser for the Pat Tillman Foundation after President Michael Franklin saw him walking along U.S. Highway 180 downtown and invited him to the luncheon.
Fanning, a graduate of Notre Dame, served two tours in Afghanistan with the 2nd Army Ranger Battalion after signing up in response to the Sept. 11th attacks.
Pat Tillman, a football player turned U.S. Army Ranger, also signed up after Sept. 11, turning down a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals.
Tillman was killed by friendly fire in April 2004.
“I met Pat Tillman coming out of the field with one month of food and sleep deprivation on my way to a bar,” Fanning said. Pat Tillman and his brother, Kevin, were sitting in a cafe discussing one of the papers they regularly wrote for fun on various subjects.
“I knew him as a well-rounded, thoughtful, engaged human being,” Fanning said of Tillman.
Frustrated by the leadership he saw in government and Wall Street, Fanning hatched a plan to promote Tillman’s legacy and encourage future leaders through the foundation’s scholarships and mentoring programs for young people.
“I wanted to promote his model of leadership,” Fanning said.
Fanning is seeking 1.8 million people to give $2 to the Pat Tillman Foundation.
“The response has been amazing,” Fanning said. “The walk has been building momentum.”
He has spoken to high schools and recently took a couple days from his walk to fly to Houston and present the Pat Tillman spirit award.
“I’ve slept in cemeteries, behind waffle houses, everywhere you can think of,” Fanning said. He has camped outdoors every night this week but also stays with strangers who invite him home and in hotels who sponsor him. Fanning said he slept in a house every night going through Arkansas.
His 45-pound pack holds a lot of astronaut meals but Fanning’s lost 30 pounds since he left.
Lately he’s been doing much of his walking at night and visiting around the towns during the day.
“It’s easier that way,” Fanning said.
“I try to stay on the right side of the road so the police know I’m not hitchhiking,” Fanning said.
He keeps in touch with the world with his Blackberry, charging it every chance he gets—such as during the Lions meeting—and regularly goes through AA batteries in his portable charger.
Though he has a GPS system on his phone, Fanning has no fixed route—he said he just picks the nearest town and heads for it, averaging 20 miles a day. He’s found himself heading further south the colder it gets, Fanning said.
“I should have been there by now,” Fanning joked. However, since he doesn’t pass up a chance to get the word out, he is planning on reaching Palo Pinto on Friday and the coast of California in about four more months.
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To follow Rory Fanning on his journey, read his daily blog or find out how to donate, go to www.walkforpat.org
