The Longest Climb Foundation
Because the longest climb is the one within.
Our Story
The Longest Climb Foundation was born from a journey of courage, compassion, and reconciliation.
In 2019, while still on active duty, COL (Ret.) Martin J. Bowling, U.S. Army, led an extraordinary mission: to return the surviving Veterans of the Battle of Hamburger Hill to the same jungle battlefield where they had fought 50 years earlier. Working with both the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam and the Vietnamese government, he helped locate surviving Vietnamese soldiers who had fought on the opposing side.
On the 50th anniversary of that brutal battle, the two groups—once enemies—joined hands and climbed the hill together for the first time. What followed was an unanticipated and deeply moving moment of healing that changed lives forever.
Back home, COL Bowling began assisting his fellow Veterans in correcting their military records and hosting formal ceremonies to ensure they finally received the honors they had earned. The stories spread. Other Veterans reached out. The mission grew.
.jpeg)
Expanding the Mission
In 2023, COL Bowling was introduced to author John Hollis, whose book about USMC Sgt. Rodney Davis, a posthumous Medal of Honor recipient, inspired a second journey of healing. Together, they returned with Marines and the family members of Sgt. Davis to the site of his last heroic stand near the Que Son Valley, Vietnam. The experience was transformative—bridging decades, cultures, and pain with compassion and honor.
It was clear: this kind of healing wasn’t limited to one hill or one battle. Every Veteran has their own hill to climb. That realization gave the foundation its name and its calling.
