“I’m a 100% disabled veteran, I’ve been on a weight-loss journey, and I figured that if I carry my flag with me, I get such great reactions and it motivates me to keep doing it.”
Adam Lay continuing his walk up FM-78 North
“I’m not carrying this for one party or another. I just want to be united as a country.”
Adam Lay, a Schertz local, can be seen walking upwards of eight miles a day in the central Texas area. Red Liberty Media stopped to offer Lay water in exchange for his time and to ask him a few questions. The following is from a voluntary recording taking place in Schertz, Texas.
Red Liberty Media: "Over the past couple of weekends, there have been several freedom rallies in San Antonio and at the (Texas) capitol— Do you go to these types of events and stand with the American flag? Do you have a message you are trying to get out?"
Lay: "For Veteran's Day, September 11th, and for Pearl Harbor, I would go pose somewhere with my flag, but it hurt my knees just standing there and so when I started walking, I thought, "Well, why don't I do it with my flag?", and I love doing it. I get honks and waves. People will salute. Sometimes people will get out of their vehicles and shake my hand or give me a bottle of water and stuff. I just like spreading patriotism in my country. No political message. I just love my country, and I love spreading that when I do my walks."
Red Liberty Media: Is this your regular routine- to walk this way?
Lay: "I change it up sometimes…When I decided I wanted to walk even further, I started walking up to Pat Booker and back, and now I want to start challenging myself even more because I found on Facebook this thing called the Conqueror Challenge- like virtual marathons, and I just walk them. I've wanted to go further, so yesterday I walked close to Converse about eight miles, today I walked until I hit five, so when I get home, that will be ten, and I get these medals…
"Monday, I started my third challenge, which is 35 miles, so I'll have done 23 miles of it after today. I figured I'm walking. I might as well do these challenges."
For the past several months, the weather in this area of Texas has been upwards of 70 degrees Fahrenheit in mid-morning and can reach up to 90 degrees by noon. For many Schertz locals, this is an opportunity to evade the Texas heat and avoid the physical stress. Adam Lay starts his journey at approximately 8:30 in the morning and proceeds with his challenge for the day.
In reference to the flag, Lay stated, "I love my country. The only political thing is that I hate how divided we are right now, and I just want to spread patriotism. I'm not carrying this for one party or the other. Let's get back to being united as a country, get back to loving our country, and not be splitting ourselves into groups all the time."
Adam Lay and Red Liberty Media discussed more about his encounters on the road, including both support and disapproval from people driving by.
Lay: "I'm on the local Facebook group, so when people have stopped to give me water, I would do a little video and say thank you. I've been doing this for several months now. One time when I was in front of the (Randolph Air Force) Base, I got pulled over by a cop. The officer stopped me and said he needed to make contact. He said, "someone called the cops on you." You could tell he was embarrassed because they had to come to check. But I'm fine. I do this four to five days a week. I told him, "I appreciate what you do.", and I made a video and put that on the local Facebook where I had an outpour of support. It seemed like I got double the amount of honks the next day. I did a post where (I said) I got an arm workout from all the waving I had to do, but I love that. It cheers people up."
Adam Lay said thanks for the water before proceeding his walk and shared, "The longest I've gone so far is eight miles, and I'm currently at… 8.95."
For more information about what is happening in this Texas community, see the Schertz/Cibolo group Facebook page.
About the Author:
Bean Dashnea is currently a student of foreign language and political science. She has lived between the U.S. and Europe for nearly 14 years but considers Texas home. After Bean changed her party registration from Democrat to Republican circa 2018, she immediately recognized the public discourse shift. She knew she was caught in the war on culture and information. Bean currently works with local Republican chapters and primarily advocates for smaller government and geopolitical awareness.