“Pounds punish, but ounces kill.”

This well-known saying in the US military community captures a simple truth about every one of us – that we all carry things. We carry our burdens, worries, fears, regrets, and guilt; we carry our losses, our failures, and our pain. And we carry them throughout our life, rarely letting them go, often hoping to outlive them.

The Weight We Carry

No one walks a foot on this earth without some weight on their back or pain on their shoulders. Some carry alone, in silent suffering every day. Some carry the weight for others while shouldering their own pain. And there are some that succumb to the weight of it all, giving up their will to carry on. And on January 12, 2024 Benjamin “Trey” Randle shouldered his last ounce, made the decision to end his suffering, and committed suicide.

Obituary

Trey Randle was a remarkable man. A servant to those who served, he was an active advocate for US military veterans and veteran families throughout Western New York. An experienced outdoorsman, he fueled his adventurous spirit and found sanctuary in the woods and in the mountains. A faithful man, he was a compassionate soul who epitomized Christian servanthood.

The Trek

To honor the life and spirit of Trey, his brother Josh is doing a 318-mile ruck trek from Heart Lake in the Adirondack Mountains to the Eternal Flame in Orchard Park. These two remarkable places, symbolic in many ways of the spirit of both Trey’s life and Josh’s journey, were Trey’s most favorite places to not only adventure but to unload his weight and find peace in his world.

The loss of Trey has been profound on Josh. To understand the pain Trey carried, and to help heal from the loss of his brother, Josh will be carrying weight on his back the entire trek. That weight will not be any ordinary weight though. Trey’s brother is asking US military veterans and their families to write their burdens and their pain in a letter, seal it an envelope, send to the address below and he will carry them on his journey. The letters will never be opened or read. They will just be carried, burned and turned into ashes, then spread at the end of the trek.

The Route

Heart Lake in the Adirondack Mountains to the Eternal Flame in Orchard Park.

A Life Well Lived

Click to play video

Click to play video

Share Your Weight

Please consider writing a letter and letting Josh carry it.

  • Letters can be mailed
    or dropped off to:
    WNY Heroes
    1001 E Delevan St.
    Buffalo, NY 14215
  • If you would like to leave Josh a message of gratitude or encouragement, then please write those messages on the outside of each envelope.
  • Letters need to be mailed by no later than September 20, 2024.

  • Questions? email MHulsewnyheroesorg.

Inspired?

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Let us not love
in word or in tongue,
but in deed.

1 John 3:18

Inspired?