Down the Mississippi from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico

Aleks Nelson, left, and Josh Ploetz take off from the bank of the Mississippi River in downtown Cape Girardeau on Wednesday as they continue their journey to the Gulf of Mexico. The duo met as they were each traveling down the river from Lake Itasca in Minnesota. Nelson is traveling for one last "shebang" before finding a job after his recent graduation. Ploetz, a Marine who served in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2006, now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He is floating the entire stretch of the Mississippi River as a sort of therapy for himself, and also to promote awareness of fellow service members suffering from PTSD. Ploetz has dubbed his journey "Paddle off the War".