May 19, 2026 – Day 7 to DC - Wentzville, MO to Corydon, IN

May 19, 2026 – Day 7 to DC - Wentzville, MO to Corydon, IN

For the last week, I have posted many pictures of flag along our way. I have a suggestion. Look around your neighborhoods and towns. I bet you will see that our flag is not just on the Run but it is there every day.

We have challenges among the platoons and the military branches while on the Run. The money raised goes to the kids in Rainelle.

I have a challenge for all you reading this. Look around today and see how many flags you see. Count them. By the end of the day I bet you will bet surprised on the number.

Then try and remember a person serving our country in the military. This is why we have the freedom we have.

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There was a breakout today. A breakout is when some of the riders get to get off the route path and take a side step to visit another facility.

Perryville

A ride to Perryville to see an exact replica of the Vietnam wall.

Google:

Today, a full-sized replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall stands, officially known as America's Wall and locally known as The Perryville Wall. The wall is part of the new Missouri National Veterans Memorial site. It is a full-sized Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall like the one in the mall in Washington, D.C.

Here are a few pics from the ones that attended.

This is another organization the RFTW supports.

Stephen is holding a bag of popcorn near "Popcorn Billy's" brother name. I will have more on this in tomorrow's report

Back with the pack, we finished the morning meeting and headed out.

Again there are many that come out to send us off.

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First stop Wentzville Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Due to the weather, a few thing needed to be adjusted. The band was undercover and we did not have the wreath ceremony. We did have a few speakers. Comments: They said we are an impact to the Wentzville families and all the families in this country. We have a commitment to those that never made it home. And we have set an example to all.

Group photo and photo with our Vietnam veterans.

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Google:

Wentzville Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Wentzville takes extreme pride in being home to the first Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the United States. Wentzville was the first city in the nation to realize that the troops who served in Vietnam deserved to be honored.

As it stands today, the Wentzville Vietnam Veterans Memorial consists of a single-column of red Missouri granite, topped by the carved figure of an eagle. Inscribed in the column’s base is;

Vietnam Veterans Memorial December 1967

“Whither thou goest, I will go.”

We have our LEO escort only to the state line.  Thanks all!!!

As we get ready to cross the Mississippi, we ride thru St. Louis.  It is know for the its Arch.

Quick fun fact:

St. Louis Arch is the tallest monument in the U.S. at 630 feet in height. 

I think Illinois is trying to compete with Kansas.  The bridges were awesome.

How long do you think this took to set up  and organize all those people for the Run?

We go thru an overpass in about 5 minutes.  You are all amazing.

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.... and also a school bus.

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Here is a new kind of pic.  This is behind me...

Heading into Mt. Vernon for a chicken dinner made by the Mt. Vernon Elks.

They started cooking at 5:00 this morning to fix all that chicken for us.

Great reception by kids.  Love it!!!

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At several stops, we have people singing the National Anthem. 

She had such a powerful voice that again I need my tissues.  So strong.   

Oh no!!  Twenty-one gun salute....

....taps.  Thanks Mt. Vernon for all you do.

Turkey is our starter at every stop.  Remember, he has to remember the order of the platoons  since we change every day. Also remember the Missing Man and Leadership go behind the road guards in front.  Well....I  think Turkey was so focused on the platoons that he forgot to release Missing Man and Leadership.  Sooo there goes Platoon1 leading the pack.   Good thing it got figured out in this big parking lot.  May not be funny to the readers but pretty funny to us.  You do a great job Turkey.  Just 3 more days.  

This is how they are lined up.... should be in order as long as you remember who starts.

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Heading out to Indian, I love the change in the scenery.  Lots of green

Once we get into Indiana, it looks like they too want to get into the bridge challenge.

Way to go state coordinators.

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Our last gas stop for the day brings a few families out to greet our riders.

Many are gone from  families for 3 weeks.  It is nice to see the support especially the kids.

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Here is Turkey.  Always a smile on his face, even when mistakes are make.  

We all make them but fun to joke about them

Reception in Corydon where we stay for the night is incredible.  Flags flying everywhere.

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Fish fry dinner.... Yummy!!

... and of course desserts.  I am up to 15 pounds gained so far.

At dinner, Ed came up to me and said Charlie was so proud of his shirt and hat that they gave him yesterday, he wanted to share with us.

Welcome Home Charlie.

At dinner, a Vietnam vet was presented with this walking stick.

It was carved by someone on the Run (sorry I have to get the name).  He wanted it to go to a Vietnam veteran. So Mr. Ivers received it tonight at dinner.

Standing in the lobby, I caught up with Kim.  She was telling me that he was one of the ones on the bus.  I said "what bus?"  There is group of veterans that are not able to ride a motorcycle but want to participate.  They are on a bus and participate in the ceremonies, meals,....  They are starting with us in Corydon and will ride to DC.  Mr. Ivers was selected to receive this.  He was very honored. 

Temp: 63-90
Route: I-64E
Total Miles: 290

Quote for the day:

Please tell him he is more than just a name on a wall

May 18, 2026 – Day 6 to DC - Junction City, KS to Wentzville, MO

May 18, 2026 – Day 6 to DC - Junction City, KS to Wentzville, MO

Another very good day. We lost the heat from the last 2 days. Temps stayed mid 60s all day.

Another bio is read.  Lewis Herbert Abrams.  I have attached the bio sheet to give you an example.

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"Say their name.  Tell their stories.  Never forget."

This morning the sun tried to come out but it did not work very hard.  It was overcast most of the day until later in the afternoon. (more to come)

Check out how green this is.  It was like this for miles.  So vibrant.

It is early in the morning on a work day and they still come out!!!

Look how evenly these are spaced.

And look at the wind making them stand straight out.

Makes for a great pic.  I wonder how they get the flag poles anchored?

I will have to ask one of the Ambassadors tomorrow.

Still a little dark and this guy it there.

Rolling off an exit ramp.  Check out the truck in the middle  of the picture.  In Topeka, they use the city truck to block the ramps.  Traffic is not getting past these guys.

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Check this one out.  The Artemis.  Pretty cool.

Heading in the first gas stop.... check out the size of this flag.

Heading out, the flags look like they are sayin "we got your back".

YEAH!!!  Police escort all the way thru Missouri. 

Thank you state coordinator.  

This is such a huge task.  Think of all the police you need: State, Highway, City, Sheriff......Then how they have to coordinate it.   They made it look smooth all day.

Can you see their lights in the middle of the screen?  They form the "Flying V" which is very impressive.  We are too far back to get a good pic.  We move up in the pack to the first position.  Hope to get a better pic.

Today positions were 612345.   Tomorrow  123456 ( I am in platoon 1)

OMG !! Kansas is out even in the morning!!!

Staging team at their best.  Looks confusing until you are in it.

We headed out and I think they forgot to let the LEOs know.  They were racing to the front.  We are like a freight train.  Once we get going, look out.  Remember there is a 5 minute whistle and then we are off.  Turkey make sure we leave EVERY stop on time.  Not ready, you fall behind the Last Man.

They make it up to the front. GOOD.   There can be as many as 8-10 up front at a time.  They disperse them at on ramps, intersections.... same as our road guards.  This is a day the road guards are "off duty" for the most part.

There is a little story behind this flag as we get ready to roll into Concordia.

From Ed, our Platoon Coordinator:

In March of this year Levi Dennis emailed RFTW about his Vietnam veteran friend Charlie who has been  putting up a large flag on the bridge before Concordia. He said no one has ever stopped because there is no ramp. The email was forwarded to me and I contacted Levi and told him we will stop by this year. The ambassadors and outreach stopped by and then I stopped by to give him a RFTW shirt and a hat. Charlie was very appreciative of the visit and the gifts. This was all a surprise to him set by his friend Levi. 

Thank you Charlie for being such a long time supporter of RFTW.

Charlie on the right, a Vietnam vet next to him, Ed , Levi.

Concordia of truly a patriot town.  Not only how they have embraced for the last 30 years, but look at some of the painting on the building.

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My favorite...

Lori is always there to greet us and make us welcome.  The town is all about patriotism.  

There is always a prayer for the safety of the riders.  This year she was praying all morning. The storms in this part of the country have been pretty bad (remember the hail storm some of the riders went thru).  She said it came down in buckets not long before we arrived. She got her prayers answered with a dry day for lunch.

This from the elementary students.  Teaching our future great values.  THANK YOU.

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There is also an index card for you to put your name and address.  You can  give them back today or mail them back.  The kids have a large map.  They take the addresses that are returned to see where everyone is from and mark the map. Pretty cool idea.

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After awards were presented , we got a real treat. One of the Vietnam veteran's grandson, Keegan Honeycutt wrote a song for his grandpa.  Grandpa is very proud of Keegan.  Here are the lyrics:

Took off in an army green chopper
With a face painted on the nose
Lifted up in a near nosedive
Due to our over weighted load
Shooting shots out into the jungle
Till the barrels melted red
Pack of smokes and a Zippo lighter
Filling all them trees with lead
Grid pattern on the map of the land
Knew the craft like the back of my hand
Humid air couldn't get no wetter
Just a kid didn't know no better
Lace your boots
Here we go
And my crew
They call me Zippo
Took years for me to talk about it
Nam vets we were treated bad
But I didn't do nothing wrong
After all I was just a young man
Now there's a list of names up in DC
And there's some medals hanging on my wall
Just some black and white photographs
And some things I can't help recall
Grid pattern on the map of the land
Knew that craft like the back of my hand
Humid air couldn't get no wetter
Just a kid didn't know no better
Lace your boots
Here we go
And my crew
They call me Zippo
Just a kid
Young and dumb
No regrets
Or maybe some
Worn out boots
Ain't just for show
And my crew
They call me Zippo

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Lori with his grandpa

    

Keegan

Here in Concordia, we all join hand and sing the National Anthem.  

Then we say the Lord's Prayer.  Such a warm community and they love RFTW.

Little fun as we get ready to leave.  Todd, the ARC, found a friend, Thomas, a service dog.  I think if Todd would have wanted, he would have put in on the back of his bike.

We are getting ready to get on the bikes and I turn around to this:

What a hoot!!!  Scared me a first.  HAHAHA

They must have had all the kids in town send us off.  They were screaming over the sound of the bikes.  

Then at the next gas stop, one  of the road guards comes up with this:

Lance's road name is "Batman".   Must be mask day!

OH NO!  Check out the LEOs.  All in rain gear.

Everyone geared up. We heard that the weather in Wentzville was very bad, thunderstorms.  Camera gets put away.  Probably a good thing because I take too many pics.

There has to be communication between certain groups on the Run.  Today was a good thing we had them.  There was a call that there was a jack-knifed tractor trailer 15 miles ahead of us.  Some of the advanced teams were sitting in traffic: Ambassadors, road guards...  These are small groups.  The LEOS were able to reroute us off the highway to some side roads for about 10 miles.   The teams stuck ended up in torrential downpour.  Since we were behind them, we got very little rain and made it to

 Wentzville.  

Vietnam Veteran Memorial - This is where the ceremonies are normally done.  

Still a threat of rain so had to adjust.

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Everyone was chilled and hungry.  Several speeches and awards. But before that, she sang the National Anthem.  I was chilled.  And not form the rain, but from the soothing sound of her voice. 

Beautiful way to end the day.  All made it ok and we will be ready for tomorrow.

Rain in the forecast so let's get the prayers warriors on it to keep everyone safe.

Temps: 65-68

Route: I-70E, I-470, I-670,I-70

Miles: 343

Quotes for the day:      

Honoring the past, inspiring the future

We don't know them all, but we owe them all.