Gerald Baldwin was prepared to walk the 100 miles from Cordova to Huntsville to get to a doctor’s appointment last week.
On Wednesday, Walker County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Kevin Emberg received a call about a man seen wearing an oxygen mask walking down the road in the Jasper area. It was Baldwin, a disabled Army veteran with 22 years of military service in Iraq and Kuwait.
Struggling to catch his breath, he told Emberg that his car wasn’t working, and he had to be in Huntsville for a doctor’s appointment the next day or risk losing his VA benefits.
“If I don't make it, I lose them," Baldwin explained.
The Walker County Sheriff’s Office acted quickly, organizing a multi-county police effort to get the Gulf War Veteran to where he needed to be. Emberg escorted Baldwin to the Cullman County line where a Cullman Sheriff’s Deputy picked him up. The deputy then transported him to the Morgan County Line where a Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputy took over. A Madison County Sheriff’s Office Deputy in Huntsville finished the trip and took Baldwin to his appointment.
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And the next day they did it all again, in reverse, to make sure he got home safely.
“I've never spent too much time in the back of a cruiser. I really didn't belong there. I was grateful, really grateful," Baldwin said.
The Walker County Sheriff's Department plans to raise money to buy Baldwin a car. You can contribute via GoFundMe here.
Baldwin’s story spread quickly on social media, and eventually caught the attention of his son, Lance, who hadn’t spoken to his father in more than five years. And just this past weekend they reconnected.
“He’s always been my superman. He’s the strongest person that I know,” Lance told Good Morning America. “And from this story, that hasn’t changed. I mean, he was willing to walk all those miles to get to where he needed to get to.”
