Two military veterans have put down their guns and decided to hike across the country to raise money for cancer research because of the devastating effects the disease had on their families. Wayne Whitbeck (right), who lost his father to cancer, and James Allred (left), whose mother is a cancer survivor, started their 3,000-mile trek which they call Ruck for a Cure Monday at the 2nd Ave. Pier in Myrtle Beach and hope to finish in 7.5 months in San Francisco, CA. They hope to raise $50,000 to be donated to St. Jude's Cancer Research facility. Donations can be made at their website www.ruckforacure.org. They spent the night Monday camping at Huntington Beach State Park and will head south from there Tuesday morning. The Sun News Photo by Steve Jessmore sjessmore@thesunnews.com STEVE JESSMORE — The Sun News Buy Photo