ATLANTA — Rodney Smith Jr., a man touring America mowing lawns for veterans that 11Alive profiled earlier this week, has just one more state to go.
Smith tweeted out Wednesday that he was heading to Hawaii from Alaska, where he mowed at least three lawns, according to this Twitter feed.
"When I was younger I didn't like to mow lawns, but now, God took something that I disliked and turned it into something that now I love to do,” Smith told 11Alive. “And I'm doing it every single day. I just love mowing lawns."
Smith headed to Alaska this week to cross off the last two states where he’d never mowed a lawn.
“Hello Anchorage, Alaska! I will be mowing lawns for our military veterans here all day Tuesday!’ he tweeted when he arrived.
He chronicled cutting grass for three former servicemembers.
They included Victor Michael, who Smith said served more than 35 years in the U.S. Army and did four tours during the Vietnam, and a man he called Mr. Hooper, who he said served 30 years in the Air Force fixing planes.
Katie Rachel said she served in the Air Force for six and a half years as a nurse, and her husband had served for more than 12 years before he died.
She said she was overcome with gratitude.
“It means everything, an amazing gesture of kindness. Just moved into this new house without my husband for the first time, and for you to come and mow my lawn was just something out of the blue,” she said in a video Smith posted on Twitter. “Shows God’s looking out for me.”
Delta stepped in to help Smith fly to his final two states. As he was leaving for Hawaii on Wednesday, he tweeted out his excitement.
“And then there was 1! Hawaii, you are my final state on my 50 State mowing tour for our veterans!” he said. “I’ll see you soon! Thank you Delta!”
Before he left for Alaska, Smith told 11Alive that nothing brings him a greater sense of fulfillment than connecting with veterans like this.
"They tell me these stories, and I feel like a little kid just being told a story,” he said. ”It is just amazing to hear their stories."
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