Terry Mahoney, a lifelong hiker and a bit of a military historian, will spend Flag Day this year trekking 18 miles past the sites that played roles in the Battle of Baltimore nearly 200 years ago.
The 41-year-old veteran, who served six years in the Marine Corps, is walking to raise awareness and funds for severely injured veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All pledges to his effort will go to Sentinels of Freedom, a California-based organization that helps veterans who have survived devastating injuries get on the road to recovery.
Mahoney hopes to make that road smoother by endowing a $60,000 scholarship that will handle one veteran's expenses for about four years, allowing the soldier to attend school or a training program.
"That scholarship will mean housing, a car and whatever else a wounded soldier might need," he said. "I am walking for those who can't walk or hear or see. I want to be part of this effort that puts lives back together after a traumatic injury. It could have been me who was severely injured, and I want to help."
About 66 veterans have participated in the Sentinels program since it was established about seven years ago. Mahoney's fundraising could help add another to the rolls, said Carla Goulard, development director.
"We have different organizations raising funds, but nothing like what Terry is doing," she said. "He is creating awareness for us and for the veterans. We don't commit until we have the funding, and his efforts could bring another vet into our program."
Mahoney drafted his fundraising plan, submitted it to Sentinels of Freedom for approval and started training, most often in the evenings on hikes near his home in the Carroll County town of New Windsor. From his boyhood home near the Appalachian Trail, he learned to appreciate long, leisurely hikes. For the next few months, he will be walking farther and more vigorously.
He copes with a minor foot injury from his Marine days but pays it little heed.
"Foot pain gives me perspective," Mahoney said. "It reminds me that I have both legs."
He usually walks with Karlos, his 3-year-old German shepherd. The dog matches him in perseverance and often outpaces him in stamina, Mahoney said. Karlos' glow-in-the-dark leash and Mahoney's glaring orange vest make them easily visible to passing motorists.
"We are a team," Mahoney said of his dog. "Hiking with me is his job. He really is the gas in my tank."
Mahoney, an accountant for a telecommunications company in Baltimore, continues to build for a 195-mile challenge in November. The hike on Flag Day will be an easy jaunt compared to the 50 miles he trudged through a chilling April downpour from Baltimore to Emmitsburg, roughly following the 19th-century route of Elizabeth Ann Seton, America's first native-born saint.
"The only thing that worries me is the heat," he said. "I will be carrying plenty of water and a dog bowl."
At the end of this month, he will log another 90 miles with a hike from Williamsburg, Va., to the Marine base at Quantico. His ultimate goal will take him six days along a mountainous trail along the C&O Canal pathway from Cumberland to Washington by Nov. 10, the anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps.
But this week, his focus is Flag Day. He plans an amphibious landing at dawn Tuesday on North Point peninsula, near the location from which the British launched the ground assault on the city Sept. 12, 1814. After disembarking, Mahoney and Karlos will set out from the grounds of the old Veterans Administration Hospital at Fort Howard and head for Fort McHenry, where Mahoney will plant a 15-star flag.
They will walk along North Point Road to Eastern Avenue and into the city, through the Inner Harbor and Locust Point, confident that no matter what the weather is, they will reach their destination at Fort McHenry.
"There is nothing about any hike that presents a challenge that I can't overcome," he said.