Retired Army captain runs 44 miles in effort to raise awareness for veterans’ mental heath

By Jennifer Franciotti

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    PASADENA, Maryland (WBAL) — If you were out in Pasadena last week, you may have seen a man out for a run carrying an American flag.

Retired Army Capt. Kyle Butters didn’t just run a mile — he ran 44.

“This flag has been everywhere from Afghanistan (to) Kuwait (to) Turkey,” Butters said.

More than just sentimental value, the flag he carries is the symbol of freedom and sacrifice.

It’s all to raise awareness about mental health issues facing veterans.

“It’s affected me personally. I was medically retired from the Army due to mental health issues. I’ve also lost soldiers to suicide throughout my time in the Army (and) even since I’ve been out of the Army,” Butters said.

Starting in his own Pasadena neighborhood, Butters ran 4 miles every four hours for a total of 22 miles a day to represent the estimated 22 veterans who commit suicide every day.

“They think that during the COVID pandemic, that (it has) gone up by as much as 20%,” Butters said. “I chose to use running as my platform because not every veteran has the physical ability to do what I do, and people pay attention when you do big distances.”

He’s raising big money with the run — more than $12,000 — to support the Infinite Hero Organization.

“They provide grants to veterans and also to research causes, whether it’s brain injury, PTSD, even physical disabilities,” Butters said.

Butters said he’ll be back at it again next year and hopes this is something that can spread to other states with the ultimate goal of normalizing tough conversations that could save lives.

“It’s easy to congratulate veterans and thank them for their service and do these nice things. But no one is asking hard questions. No one (is) asking, ‘How are you doing on the inside? How is your head doing? What are you doing to take care of yourself?’ And, that’s part of my mission, to ask those questions of people and to make sure other people understand that those are the questions that really need to be asked,” Butters said.

To make a donation to Buttters’ cause, tap here.

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