CBS 5 - KPHO Valley couple traveling cross country on foot to spread pride

Valley couple traveling cross country on foot to spread pride

How would you go spread your pride in your country?

A Valley couple is traveling farther than you might expect - much of it on foot - to make sure people don't take their citizenship for granted.

Dr. John Eckstein along with his wife, Diane, and two interns have just embarked on a 3,500 mile journey across the country, walking and biking from town to town to promote community involvement and educate people on what it truly takes to become a good citizen of this country.

"We all came to this country on different ships in the past, and now we're all on the same ship of the United States of America, and we should all be good citizens of this country," said John Eckstein.

This journey was inspired by Gerda Weissmann Klein, a Holocaust survivor who was forced on a death march she was lucky to survive.

She later married the U.S. soldier who rescued her. America and its ideals became so important to Klein that she developed a program  called Citizenship counts.

"To help our young people in a program in their schools appreciate American citizenship, understand their responsibilities as U.S. citizens and also to understand that we are a nation of immigrants and that's what made us so great," said Diane Eckstein.

The curriculum culminates in a naturalization ceremony hosted at the schools where immigrants get to interact with the students.

The Ecksteins will be stopping at 12 such ceremonies on the way from San Diego to New York.

They plan to ride 50 miles on day one and then walk 15 miles on day two, ride 50 miles on day three and rest on day four.

The group, including the couple's dog Kipp, will be blogging about their adventure along the way, hoping to inspire people not to take their citizenship for granted.

The couple says they feel very fortunate to be able to carry Klein's dream across the country.

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