Veterans on Warrior Paddle Journey stop in Cape Girardeau
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – Veterans arrive in Cape Girardeau for a quick break.
The Mississippi River welcomed a powerful display of resilience today, Monday August 18, 2025, as military veterans arrived in Cape Girardeau for a quick break on an inspiring journey.
Veterans travel thousands of miles for weeks -months at a time by canoe down river as part of something called Warrior Paddle.
The expedition is designed to help veterans reconnect, heal, and find renewed purpose as they deal with anxiety, PTSD and more from their time in combat.
VFW Post 3838 in Cape Girardeau has spent the last two days giving the veterans a much-needed break, warm place to sleep, food and more before they head back out in their journey.
Casey Ludewig is a combat veteran participating in the program. He arrived in Cape Girardeau on Sunday with two other veterans and was picked up by the VFW Post 3838 who provided the veterans with a place to sleep, relax and eat. They embarked back out on their journey at 10:30 am as new veteran travelers arrived. Ludewig says the journey has been hard but it’s all part of the process.
“It’s part of the challenge. You have to face, to face stuff that’s not, combat related, basically. So, starting up in Minnesota, where it’s getting colder and longer days, and now you got shorter days and it’s getting hotter. It’s just part of the challenge. And I’m very grateful to be able to do it” says Ludewig.
Warrior Paddle is one of several challenges that veterans can apply to take part in as part of a recreation rehabilitation therapy for combat veterans who have overseas. Pushing their bodies both physically and mentally to new.
“Me, it’s helped me, quite a bit in a lot of different aspects. My anxiety’s gone down, actually getting out and talking to more people and also, just my sleep’s gotten better because of the fact of, you know, nature and just being out in the wilderness. So, it’s been an absolutely amazing adventure so far, and I’m excited to finish it” says Ludewig.
Combat veterans start in Minnesota and paddle all the way to Louisiana over the course of 90 days. Kenneth Singh was a Seargeant in the Marine Core. He says they are on about day 55 with 35 days left ahead, and he shares that the journeys been challenging.
“Mainly we just get mad at the river and the weather. Because the wind, when it’s coming at you, from the south, it’s really hard to paddle because you’re basically pushing against the wind while you’re trying to paddle into the water” says Singh.
Singh says this journey means more to him than just a trip, it’s a test of endurance and agility to see where he goes next.
“I’ve done a lot of therapy already, but this is definitely a good thing. I was in the infantry, so it’s not as hard as my first deployment was to Iraq, but it’s up there. It definitely is. And, honestly, I’m doing this, and this is like a test case for me because I’m planning on doing it all over the world, like trying to do, the seven longest rivers on each of the seven continents. So, I’ll be back to do them in Missouri and then obviously Saint Louis down in the Gulf on the Mississippi. But I’ll do the rest of those. But this was like me saying, seeing if I could, if I had the endurance, if my body could stand up to it and everything else. And so far, was so far so good” says Singh.
For more information on Warrior Paddle and Warrior Expeditions Warrior Expeditions.
