Arkansas 4-H member running 2.2 miles every day in May for veteran PTSD awareness
By Rebekah Hall
U of A System Division of Agriculture
May 21, 2025
Fast Facts:
- May is National Military Appreciation Month
- 11-year-old Guy Kroll from Howard County 4-H running 2.2 miles every day in May
- 2 miles refers to 2010 statistic of average of 22.2 veteran suicides a day
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NASHVILLE, Ark. — For 11-year-old Guy Kroll, running 2.2 miles a day during the month of May is a way to honor his late uncle, Ben Kroll, a military veteran who died in 2023 after struggling with PTSD.
“My uncle did this, and I wanted to do it,” Kroll said. “My uncle, he would do 2.2 miles every day of May, wearing a backpack with the weight of what they would carry in war. And each day, he would run in a different place. He fought and lost his battle with PTSD, one he was battling for 17 years.”
Kroll began his effort to raise awareness in May 2024, as May is recognized as National Military Appreciation Month. Kroll’s mother, Samantha Horn, Howard County Extension staff chair for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said Ben Kroll enlisted in the military on his 17th birthday in 2003. He then served from 2004 to 2007. During the last two years of his service, he was deployed to Afghanistan.
PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, can occur after a high-stress or terrifying event like war, assault, or disaster. An estimated 12 million people in the United States have PTSD, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD.
In 2012, the VA compiled the Suicide Data Report, which analyzed data from 147,763 suicides in 21 states in 2010. The report found that 18.3 percent of those suicides were people with a history of U.S. military service, as noted on their death certificates. Factoring in that veteran status was listed as “unknown” on many death certificates, and assuming this same prevalence estimate to be constant across all U.S. states, the VA stated that an estimated 22 veterans died from suicide each day in 2010. This statistic has since prompted many awareness campaigns, including those by Guy Kroll and his late uncle.
More recently, the VA stated in its 2024 Suicide Data Report that in 2022, the average number of veteran suicides per day was 17.6.
Horn said her son has challenged friends and other community members to do either 2.2 miles, 22 pushups or pull-ups, then post about it on social media and challenge someone else using the hashtag #bensheart22 or #BH22.
Horn said Kroll’s 4-H project focuses on healthy living. Since Ben Kroll’s death, Horn said she has had discussions with her son about the mental health elements of healthy living.
“When his uncle lost his battle, it affected his whole family,” Horn said. “I think at 11, we still try to protect Guy from some things, but this was very real for him. It was an eye-opener, and we’ve been talking with him about how healthy living is not just exercising and going to baseball practice and doing his gardening. There are also mental health components that we are now talking about and sharing with him that are age appropriate.”
Raising awareness, one run at a time
Kroll said his grandmother, mother of Ben Kroll, hosts a bi-monthly meeting at her church for families who have lost loved ones to PTSD, which Guy has attended.
“For veterans with PTSD and families who have had people who have lost their battles, they can just come and all talk about it. It’s so they have an outlet,” Kroll said.
Horn said the meetings are the first and third Saturday of each month at Life House Church and Outreach Center in Texarkana, and both youth and adults are welcome.
“It’s for the wives, husbands, children, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, grandparents, or anyone who was affected by a loved one who lost their life to PTSD,” Horn said. “It is a space for youth to come in, sit, make a craft and have a snack with other youth who are going through the same thing, a place for them to talk and not be judged and feel safe. Those who attend have a community of people who are there to support them.”
Kroll said he wants fellow 4-H members and other young people to recognize that they can use their voices to speak up, and it may help people like his uncle.
“Even a kid can be an influence and make a difference,” Kroll said. “I want to raise awareness about this, so other people don’t end up like him. If I’m not able to do 2.2 miles a day because I get home from baseball too late, I do 22 pull-ups or sit-ups, or you can do 22 minutes of prayer.”
In addition to his healthy living project, Kroll is also active on the Howard County 4-H SeaPerch team, shows pigs, and is a member of the Food Challenge Team.
Horn said she is proud of the discipline her son has practiced in his efforts to raise awareness.
“I really, truly believe that what he’s doing at his age is pretty impressive, whether he was my kid or any kid,” Horn said. “There are certain things that 11-year-olds shouldn’t know, but he lived it. He and his uncle were very close.”
For more information and resources related to veterans experiencing PTSD, visit ptsd.va.gov.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment) without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media Contact:
Rebekah Hall
rkhall@uada.edu
@RKHall_
501-671-2061