The two Marines who are walking the 300 miles from their homes to the White House in an effort to get President Barack Obama to take action to free U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi from a Mexican prison will arrive in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning.
Sixty-three-year-old U.S. Marine and Vietnam veteran Terry Sharpe began the march to the White House from his home in North Carolina on Sept. 5. Just days into the walk, Sharpe met fellow Marine and Vietnam veteran Allen Brown, also 63. Brown decided to make the trek with Sharpe.
The two have walked together each day ever since, covering as much as 20 miles a day. They are now closing in on their final destination.
Sharpe is bringing with him a phone that he plans to offer Obama at the White House for the president to call the president of Mexico to have Tahmooressi released and returned to the United States.
Sharpe and Brown are carrying a letter for Obama, asking that he "show us the leadership and commitment that our service members expect and deserve from their commander-in-chief."
"As Marines we pledged long ago to never leave another Marine on the battlefield, and you have expressed this same sentiment as commander-in-chief," says the letter. "Our nation owes Sergeant Tahmooressi a debt of gratitude, and you have the ability to repay part of that debt by making one phone call."
Support for Sharpe and Brown along their walk has been growing. Over the last two weeks, not a day has passed without people joining the two Marines for part of their walk.
The support has extended beyond keeping the men company. Sharpe uses social media each night to thank those who helped them each day. The help ranges from offering food and shelter, to donating a pair of sneakers to replace old shoes worn away from the long walk.
Supporters are planning a rally right outside of D.C. in Rosslyn, Va., where people will meet up with the Marines to walk the final 2.4 miles across the Key Bridge, through Georgetown, and to the White House.
Other supporters will be waiting outside the White House when Sharpe and Brown arrive.
Sharpe and Brown also plan to meet with Jill Tahmooressi, the mother of the jailed Marine. They will present her with the two American flags they have carried during their journey.
Ms. Tahmooressi says that she has been keeping her son up-to-date on the status of Sharpe and Brown’s march to the White House and "all the support his fellow Marines are receiving along this sacrificial road."
For Sharpe, the goal remains simple.
"I have run across so many people already that don’t even know anything about him," Sharpe told the Washington Free Beacon. "There are still so many people that don’t know. I am trying to spread the word of who he is and what his problem is."