Retired Army couple to visit 50 states in vet awareness effort - Off Duty, travel - Navy Times

Retired Army couple to visit 50 states in vet awareness effort

Army retirees Col. Deb Lewis and Lt. Col. Doug Adams call themselves “an ordinary couple who served in the military and wanted to continue serving.” But what the married pair is doing is extraordinary.

To raise awareness for veterans, Adams is biking through all 50 states, while Lewis and their Chihuahua, Daisy, are following in their motor coach.

They call their effort the Duty, Honor, America Tour, which started at Fort Drum, N.Y., in October of last year and is scheduled to end in Hawaii on Oct. 8.

“We want to give people ideas on how to help our veterans,” Lewis says.

Forty-four states and more than 13,500 miles into the journey, they’re making their way through Montana and heading for installations in Utah and Idaho by mid-July. By the end of the tour, they will have traveled about 18,000 miles. They’ll abandon the motor coach and fly to Alaska and Hawaii.

Adams bikes about 60 miles each day, which can take up to five hours.

Adams and Lewis intended to visit 50 military installations, but that number has grown to about 100, adding stops at Veterans Affairs Department retirement homes and additional towns along the way. A daily schedule is online at http://dutyhonoramerica.com

“We also wanted to be with folks in communities that don’t have a strong military presence,” Adams says.