ST. SIMONS, Georgia — At the age of 93, just making it down all four steps of an RV is quite a feat. It’s even more remarkable to wake up at 5 a.m. for a five-mile run. 

And at 93, what’s most amazing of all, is that Ernie Andrus’ recent jog in St. Simons, Georgia, was just the final leg of a much, much longer run — a run that began nearly three years and 3,000 miles ago at the Pacific Ocean. 

Ernie Andrus CBS News

“I’m running the whole thing, every step of the way,” Ernie told us when we first met him just outside Phoenix as he slowly inched his way through the Sonoran Desert.

He would run five miles, get a ride or hitchhike back to his vehicle, then run the next five miles two days later.

It’s all for one purpose. “I want people to know what the war was all about and what it took to win it,” Ernie explained.

Specifically, the old Navy man was running to raise awareness for an unsung hero of World War II — a ship he served on called an LST, or landing ship tank. It’s how the allies got heavy equipment onto beaches. 

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