NORWICH – As part of his 750-mile walk across New York State, Vietnam war veteran Frank Romeo made a stop at Norwich High School on Tuesday to talk to students about post-traumatic stress.

Romeo is a veterans advocate, educator, and Vietnam war veteran whose non-profit organization Walk with Frank aims to "...educate the public about the devastating impact of PTSD on military veterans in particular and society in general."

At the beginning of March, Romeo began a 750-mile walk from Buffalo to Bay Shore on Long Island as a means of bringing attention to PTSD. His program 'The Art of War' discusses some of the challenges Romeo has faced with PTSD and how painting provided an outlet for his trauma.

"During a mission into Cambodia on August 2, 1969, we were living in the jungles of Vietnam and I was surrounded by the enemy," said Romeo. "I was separated from my unit and I was shot seven times, and they kept shooting me until they thought I was dead."

Romeo – who is completing the 750-mile walk with a bullet still lodged in his back – said he was unconscious for a month after being shot in 1969, before waking up in a hospital in Japan. After being administered morphine during his recovery, he began a long battle with drug addiction.

"I left the hospital in uniform after spending a year in the hospital, and I was spit on by the anti-war movement," said Romeo. "The protesters who were outside of the hospital actually spit on us when we came home. Coupled with my drug abuse, this began to eat away at my mental stability and it began to affect me for the rest of my life."