When the Great Depression put Plennie Wingo’s bustling Abilene cafe out of business, he tried to find fame, fortune, and a sense of meaning the only way he knew how: by embarking on an audacious trip around the world on foot. In reverse.
There’s a story Tony Carleo likes to tell about a visit he made to Las Vegas over a decade ago, when he was in his early twenties.
“I was sitting in a casino,” he says, “and there was a crowd starting to gather around a craps table, people two or three deep because everyone wanted to see.”
The military’s toughest training challenges have a lot in common with outdoor sufferfests like the Barkley Marathons and the Leadville Trail 100: you have to be fit and motivated to make the starting line, but your mind and spirit are what carry you to the end. A Ranger graduate breaks down an ordeal that shapes some of the nation’s finest soldiers.