Jeffery Correa and Jason Knight are patriotic guys. Both joined the military and served with honor. And their training as linguists made them highly coveted individuals. Correa served in the U.S. Air Force, Knight in the Navy.

But both men are gay—and under the nation's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, they are not welcome to serve, out and proud.

The two men joined forces and planned a 45-mile walk to raise awareness of the discriminatory policy on Veterans Day .

"We decided we wanted to do a walk—one, because it's hard, and two, because it unites the entire Monterey Bay Area and says we won't tolerate discrimination," said Knight.

Knight and Correa—and anyone else who wishes to join them—will start the day at the gates of the Presidio of Monterey, home to the Defense Language Institute, where both were trained as military linguists. Their route passes the Naval Postgraduate School and the former Fort Ord.

The walkers will enter Santa Cruz on Soquel Drive in Aptos and continue until they get to their downtown destination, at the former Teen Center on Laurel Street in Santa Cruz. At the center, there will be a reception to honor gay and lesbian past and present service members.

The first walkers are expected to start arriving at the Teen Center around 6:30 p.m., although the reception isn't slated to start at 7:30 p.m.

The trek is expected to take about 15 hours. Both Knight (@jddashknight) and Correa (@JLKnSC) plan to tweet their progress—giving updates and insights from the hike.

So far, at least 30 others have agreed to join in the 45-mile hike, according to the Facebook page.

"At least one active-duty service member if not more will be walking with us tomorrow," Correa said. "Heterosexual, of course."

Knight said this is an ideal time for the walk with the Congress and courts taking up position on the policy. There is also a tide of support from the public for the repeal of the rule.

"More than 70 percent of people want this gone," said Knight. "We want to send a message to our Congress people that we want this gone ASAP."

It's also a critical period because the balance of power in Congress is about to shift.

"If it doesn't get done in the lame duck session, then our only hope is in the courts," said Knight.

Correa said the need for action right now is urgent.

"Because of the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives, we have a very small window to get Don't Ask, Don't Tell repealed," he said. "We are just putting a full-court press on the president and on the Senate to make good on their promises and to get this done."

And he said it is important for Santa Cruzans to make their opinions known.

"We're looking forward to having a visible symbol in our community— a statement that says we have to put an end to this type of discrimination and homophobia," he said.