CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Jonathan Milkovich is in the middle of a 700-mile journey on foot over 17 days in the name of helping others.
He stopped in Charlotte on Sunday with 270 miles and seven days down on his Operation Carolina trek.
“I’m living my dream right now. Every morning my job is to wake up and run. It’s the best mission I’ve had since I got out,” said the retired United States Army soldier.
That mission is a part of Milkovich’s non-profit, Operation Warrior Fit, which “empowers veterans, service members and first responders to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle by providing free or significantly discounted entries to active events and competitions.”
Founded in 2026, the organization helps raise awareness for the challenges that people who’ve served our communities and country have with mental health.
The run is part fundraiser and part recruitment, with Milkovich putting the emphasis on having conversations with veterans about mental health.
His purpose comes from watching his father work as a firefighter in Florida, his own military service and turning to endurance running after retiring from the Army to adjust to civilian life.
“We didn’t see the deployments or the active war zones, but I was (in the) Airborne Infantry so you’re still training to shoot other people. There’s all this psychological stuff that comes with that,” he said. “We ended up losing one of our guys to mental health while we were in.”
His goal is to get people to find community by joining his non-profit, maintaining an active lifestyle and competing in endurance competitions just like he did.
The dream is to give as many veterans as possible a support system, so they have people to lean on if they go through mental health challenges.
“My hope is that the end of this I get a message a year and a half ago that someone that ran with us the first couple of days and they’re doing their first half marathon or triathlon and they found that community to be with and this run was the reason they found that community,” said Milkovich.
You can see if you qualify to join Operation Warrior Fit here and apply here.
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