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>> I'm from Jefferson, Wisconsin
originally.
I now live in Ixonia and I'm
a student at the University
of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
I've got about
a year and a half left.
>> Like most college students,
Nic Doucette is a man
on a journey.
>> I'm studying business
management,
and just kinda making my way
through college.
>> But navigating academics
doesn't seem so hard,
when you've navigated the roads
of Afghanistan.
>> I joined the Marines in 2008.
I was in Australia for a month,
and after that,
I deployed to Afghanistan
with a first combat
engineer battalion,
and we conducted a mission
known as Route Clearance.
So during this next
seven month phase,
our job was to drive down the
roads, 3-5 miles an hour,
and search for IEDs,
or improvised explosive devices.
Two of the guys we served with,
they lost their legs during
our tour.
Both of them stepped on
improvised explosive devices.
>> Nic escaped
that kind of injury.
He made it home
and went back to school.
But after years
of intense training
he craved more than
college life could give.
>> I was canoe fishing
with one of my buddies one day,
I was like Oh, we should
really do something huge!
I hadn't really had much
challenging things going on
since getting out
of the Marine Corps, I just
needed another thing to do
that was big and challenging,
so I kinda pitched the idea.
>> That idea?
To kayak the entire length
of the Mississippi River.
A few weeks into the trip,
we met up with Nic in Dubuque.
With him for the ride,
his buddy and fellow Marine,
Gabe Vasquez.
>> We served in first tank
battalion together,
and you know, the whole thing
kind of came about.
I was going to do it by myself.
He's like,
I get out of the Marine Corps
you know, a couple days
before you leave.
I'm coming with you.
>> Along with adventure,
Nic and Gabe had another goal.
Through social media and
word-of-mouth,
they planned to raise money
for a group called
the Semper Fi Fund,
an organization that had
helped the injured Marines
Gabe and Nic served with.
>> They've provided
modifications to their homes,
their vehicles, and you know,
some of them have service dogs.
And it's literally like
anything that they need.
They're constantly calling like,
hey, you guys need anything?
>> Nic's journey started in
the headwaters of Minnesota.
>> In the beginning,
it was a little difficult
being in the headwaters,
no communication,
no way for anyone to get
a hold of me if I did have
something go wrong.
There was really no way
for me to call out to anyone
for help.
Bimidji was the first town,
and then after those
first five days,
it was easy.
Challenging parts are the
weather, really unpredictable.
So we'll have certain days
where we're expecting 90 percent
thunderstorms all day,
so we don't, you know,
risk it going on the water.
And by noon it's sunny out.
We did experience
a lot more flooding
going through Davenport.
That was probably one of
the worst areas we saw.
A lot of Iowa was very flooded.
South of St. Louis,
the river widened up.
There was no more lock and dams
that are preventing the flow
from going south,
so everything kinda
smoothed out from there.
>> On many nights,
Nic and Gabe roughed it,
sleeping in tents
near the river.
But on other nights,
they were treated
to the hospitality of others,
particularly other veterans.
>> In Vicksburg, Mississippi,
there was a group of 20 people
that came out and met us
on the shore
and they threw together like
a catered dinner for us.
It was way more than anything
we ever expected on the trip.
We had random people coming out,
meeting us on the side
of the river, taking us in,
putting us in a hotel room.
>> In all, the journey took
71 days and covered 2,340 miles.
It ended on a bright delta day.
>> We were probably about
10 miles away yet,
and that's when you could
see this sliver of the ocean
kind of opening up,
where you couldn't see anything
past the land.
I could see a lighthouse,
and then the second I saw
that sliver, it was like
this adrenaline rush again.
And it was right there.
I knew that was the end,
and I could physically see
that there was no more river
for me to paddle.
>> Within a few days,
Nic was back in Wisconsin
and back in school.
By September, he'd raised
about 17,500 dollars
for the Semper Fi fund.
Nic had lost 21 pounds
on the trip,
but he'd gained new appreciation
for the kindness of others.
>> One thing I know
I won't ever do is
bypass someone who I know is
in a similar situation,
whether they're you know
hiking somewhere, canoeing,
kayaking, if I see someone
in a situation like that,
there's no way I can't stop.
I have to stop and help them out
in some way or another
because I feel like I owe
so much kindness
from what was given to us
on our entire trip.
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