Veteran walks from Austin, Minnesota to Austin, Texas, to raise awareness for non-profit

Daniel Crawford is taking the slow way from Minnesota to Texas; he's walking.

"I've got about four pairs of shoes that I go through right now," Crawford said.

"It's become a walk of faith for me."

Crawford calls it a One Thousand Mile Gratitude Walk. The purpose is to raise awareness about a non-profit that helped him through dark times called the 23rd Veteran.

"The name of it comes from the statistic that 22 veterans a day take their own lives," Crawford said.

"I'm the 23rd veteran who did not take his own life, and now I see life in a positive way, and I'm here."

Crawford is a Desert Storm Marine veteran who did three deployments overseas.

"During those times, there were quite a few character-building experiences, we'll call them, and a lot of brothers who were with us then are no longer with us," Crawford said. A lot of veterans feel isolated."

Crawford has been taking photos and posting them on a Facebook page called 1000 Mile Gratitude Walk to raise awareness as he passes through each state.

"Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and now Texas," Crawford said. "Six of 'em!"

Those are the numbers Crawford is counting as he walks.

"If I can walk to Texas and help one (veteran), I will," Crawford said. "What I have learned is to be open and go with the flow. It's a choice to be happy or not, and I choose to be happy."