2 Men Finish 500 Mile Run From Cape Cod To Virginia To Raise Awareness About Veteran Suicide

BOSTON (CBS) - Two men who left Massachusetts on Veterans Day for a 500-mile run to Virginia to raise awareness about veteran suicide have completed their mission. Josh Milich and Brian Tjersland arrived at Arlington National Cemetery Friday evening.

They ran 500 miles in 12 days, from the Massachusetts National Cemetery on Cape Cod to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. They averaged more than 40 miles a day, fighting off rain, snow and injuries.

Milich and Tjersland ran for Mission 22, an organization that provides treatment to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"They go over and put themselves at risk for us and they come back and don't know how to ask for help and they really need to know there are people out there to support them," Tjersland told WBZ-TV earlier this month.

CBS News caught up with them in Philadelphia this week.

"It's OK to not be OK and no one's going to judge you for feeling the way that you do," Milich told CBS.

Seventeen veterans die by suicide every day in the U.S and there are more than 6,000 lives lost a year, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

For more about their run or how you can help, visit Mission 22.

For immediate help if you are in a crisis, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All calls are confidential.