Tim French stands at the Veterans memorial in Crossville, Tennessee.(Photo;TimFrench)
Walking for Health Becomes Walking For A Purpose for Tim
November 11, 2022
Crossville, TN -- Tim French moved to Crossville Tennessee 27 years ago, where he lives today. Tim is a US Navy veteran, who served from 1980 through 1984(right out of high school) on active duty after growing up in a small town in Indiana.
Tim served as Aviation Ordnance Technician and made a world cruise on the USS Carl Vinson in 1983. After service Tim worked for 10 years at a manufacturing job before problems began. Beginning in 1994, Tim began to have health problems and because of those, he has been disabled since 1994. He could easily have sat down on the couch and relaxed, but Tim is not that kind of man. On his Iwalk4them website, Tim talks lists his over 194 walks for fallen heroes over the last year. You can also find his walks on his facebook page. "I am a US Navy Veteran. I served from 1980 to 1984 active and 1984 to 1986 non active reserves. I was an AO3 and made the first World Cruise on the USS Carl Vinson in 1983. I have been disabled since 1994. They found an inoperable brain tumor and a brain aneurysm back in 1994. I had brain surgery for an aneurysm in 1994.
"A few years later they found out that I had glaucoma and was losing my eyesight. I also had tunnel vision due to the optical nerve damage done by the aneurysm. Then four years ago I found out that I do not have a right carotid artery. So a few medical problems but that’s not stopping me."
"I am a very positive and motivated person. God has blessed me with a wonderful family and friends. I am very patriotic. Most people that know me , know that I am very passionate about Honoring Our Fallen Heroes. I have been doing it for years and I will be doing it till the day I die. We shall keep their memories alive. brain surgery, I had to learn to walk again."
Tim was overweight and wanted to get out and walk. In May 2019, he began walking for health. Tim has lost weight as an added bonus for his waking with around 60 pounds lost as of November 2022. Tim had always been very active on social media, sharing a lot of things about fallen soldiers, honoring fallen soldiers, making collages, and posting online.
One of my daughters said "Why don't you carry a flag when you walk" and he did one better, he carried a picture of a fallen soldier. Tim walks almost every day. He put in 1000 miles last year and donated the framed flag he carried to the Cumberland County Mayor.
"I walk all over Cumberland County. I auctioned off the second 1000 mile flag and donated the proceeds to a Veterans group."
Tim keeps track of his mileage with an app on his phone. He normally walks around 4-5 miles, but has gone as high as 22 miles. He did the 22 miles to bring attention to the reported 22 military personnel suicides per day. He carries pictures of soldiers from all around the United States, but the majority are local. Tim has walked at times with members of the honored soldier and sometimes with members of the community. He carries the flag held high and that was a fascinating fact that is quite hard to do. He sometimes gets requests from families for fallen soldiers to walk for, but he also finds candidates on websites and facebook.
"I carry the flag high and at first it was hard, but I can do it without problems now I found out about a veteran in New York that also carries a picture of fallen soldiers on his walks. We chatted on the internet but have not met him."
Tim grew up in a small USA town in Lagoda, Indiana, a town at the time with a grocery store, gas station and drug store back in the late 70s. As he approached graduation, Tim began thinking about joining the service. His father(Army) and two uncles(Navy) served in service. Tim wanted to serve his country too, so right out of high school he joined the Navy. Tim really grew up in the Navy. It changed him a lot. After boot camp in Great Lakes, he attended Aviation Ordnance School in Millington and then left on a 10 month world cruise on a new nuclear carrier, the USS Carl Vinson. He served as plane captain before moving to ordinance related tasks for military aircraft.
"I learned a lot in the service and really grew up. After service I worked for 10 years before the health problems began to show up and regretfully, I became disabled. I still have health problems today with glaucoma, brain tumor(benin) and side effects from medicine. I have to visit the VA hospital a couple of times a year and my last check ups have been better."
I orginally wrote this story in May of 2020, but contacted Tim this year to update his progress with the mission he continues to pursue, though health problems continue to impede Tim, but not stop him.
Tim had COVID-19 back in October of 2022 and it kept down for a couple of weeks, but he was out walking on Veterans Day 2022 in the rain. He walked from his house to the Crossville Field of Honor, a memorial site with 520 flags sponsored by the Lake Tansi Exchange Club. Tim is approaching 6000 miles walked since he began walking in 2019.
