RUN FOR THE WALL Jean and Larry: May 15, 2018

Another great weather day with lots going on. We picked up my niece, Courtney, last night about midnight. She will be riding all the way and helping me with pictures. She also will be sending out Instagram posts that can also be seen on the RFTW facebook and twitter page. This has earned her the road name "Twitter".

Today we headed to the Riverside National Cemetery and Medal of Honor Memorial
Google info: Burial in a national cemetery is open to all members of the armed forces who have met a minimum active duty service requirement and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. A Veteran’s spouse, widow or widower, minor dependent children, and under certain conditions, unmarried adult children with disabilities may also be eligible for burial. Eligible spouses and children may be buried even if they predecease the Veteran. Members of the reserve components of the armed forces who die while on active duty or who die while on training duty, may also be eligible for burial.

We stage on a side street. Ron and Courtney add a few trinkets to the bike: Nemo and Minion. Minion has a voice. Courtney love it.

One of the photographers wondered what was going on.

Since they very seldom get THEIR pic taken, we decided he needed to be in ours.

Jean , Larry, Courtney and Ron

Need to get the bikes lined up tight.

Watch out!!!!

Love this sticker. "Never to late to have a happy childhood"

Bikes with 3 wheels are at the end. On the Run they have their own platoon.

Tom is the head road guard. There are about 28-30 road guards.

You will see later how much they do to keep the pack safe.

As we get started, we have the Pledge with 2 girls signing for us. About 75% of this group are FNGs. There are a lot of instructions give out before we leave.

As we leave, we see this. You will see this a lot in my blog.The respect and patriotism is unbelievable

Ron (aka Drip) and Courtney (aka Tweeter)

This is Gary Marino. I love to take pics of those riding next to me and give it to them. He was very appreciative. He is a Vietnam Veteran. Server in Vietnam Sept 1969 for 26 months. Continued to server until April 1994.

To date there are about 300,000 buried here. There are about 35 per day and can have as many as 70. Last year there were 8500. This is the 3rd largest. Next year they will be getting the land of the golf course next to it, making it the largest.

The gentleman is Lee Millet and he helped design the memorial. His dad was a Medal of Honor recipient from the Korean War

This gentleman had a brother, Tim Hastings, that went to Vietnam. He was 17 years old. The one speaking was 15 1/2 at the time and asked him not to go. Tim said not to worry that he would be back. But he did not. He was flying to Cambodia when his plane went down. 1973 Kissinger was working to try and get those POWs back. There were about 1200 at the time. Vietnam said they returned them all, come to find out they did not. 25 years later, the Freedom of Information Act said his brother was alive. 1985 the CIA saw him and still did not bring them home. He met a Vietnam POW in2016, and was explaining this situation with his brother. The man wept and said I thought we left some of our brothers behind.

To Bring everyone home is why we ride. AND never forget.

As we were staging, he gave Courtney this bracelet. It says "HOPE". And green is the color for hope.

This gentleman is one of 10 kids. Their brother was also MIA in Vietnam. Joe Workmeister (sorry not sure of spelling) was shot down 1973. There were 8 on board and only 4 were found. There has been lots of evidence he was captured. He is still not home and no one will tell them why. Currently he has a KIA status and the family is working with congress to get this changed to MIA. The family has postures made with his picture. "Wanted: Dead or Alive".

A brother and a sister are on the run this year. The closing word from the oldest brother:

"He was prepared to fight, be wounded or to die, but not to be forgotten. NO ones should be left behind or forgotten."

This gentleman's name is Earl Phares. He was a POW in Vietnam. As they were being fired upon, the guy next to him was shot and died. This happened in the late 1960s. As he told his story, he got very chocked up. Then a gentleman from the crowd said "take your time Earl, we got your back". Needless to say, there were not many dry eyes around. As he continued, he made the comment we do not know why some live and others die. He has lived a full life and at the age of 70 he wants to live another 30 years. Last comment from him: I am Navy now and I will come back as a Marine"😏

A poem was read called: Surely Someone Will Come

Please take a few minutes to read this. (remember if you single click on it , it will go to full screen)

As this concluded, we hear the 21 gun salute. Another one of our brothers or sister was being buried today. In this cemetery, the flag is all the way up until there is the first burial. Then it will go to half the rest of the day.

The POW memorial here is very moving.

Google:
“The Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Memorial was designated a National Memorial by the U.S. Congress and dedicated September 16, 2005. A bronze statue, sculpted by Vietnam veteran Lewis Lee Millett, Jr. is the image of an American serviceman on his knees and bound by his captors. The statue is surrounded by black marble pillars, representing imprisonment. The memorial honors the over 607, 000 U.S. prisoners of war and 170,000 servicemen and women listed as missing in action since the Revolutionary War.”

Google:
Riverside National Cemetery is home of the Medal of Honor Memorial, one of four sites in the United States recognized by the U.S. Congress as a National Medal of Honor Memorial Site. The Medal of Honor Memorial walls feature the names of all medal recipients. It was dedicated at a ceremony attended by 85 Medal of Honor recipients November 5, 1999.

The names of each of the 3,455 Medal of Honor recipients is inscribed on the polished granite. The recipients are listed in decoration date order arranged by conflict period beginning with the Civil War all the way thru Iraq / Afghanistan.

The goal is to have a Cypress tree per Medal of Honor recipient

Names we saw were: Theodore Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur. Names with star represent that they have received more than one medal. There are 19. Mary Edwards was the only female. Single names represent the native Indian.

These are replicas of the Medals of Honor

This is not a medal you want to "win". These people gave of themselves for their fellow Americans. Some have given the ultimate sacrifice: their life.

The Run has a list of those MIA and POWs laminated on cards. Many will take one and think of him/her as we head to the wall. We want to bring everyone home. This is who we have this year.

Head back to Hotel for another meeting. The finance team will be collecting money from the fuel team during gas stops. Jenny, Larry and I wanted to introduce ourselves so they knew who to give the money to once all the bikes were filled. Then we take that and pay the station.

This is Papi, He is the photographer for the Central route. If you get a chance, go to the RFTW website. He has some great shots.

Tigger is out registration leader. The 2 guys are Lee and Craig Bush. Check out Tiggers Shirt: BushBoyz. Lee is the KY state coordinator. More on that later.

Catherine is also a part of registration. This team make sure all form are filled out and up to date: driver license, medical, .....Everyone gets wrist bands and MUST wear a lanyard with their medical info. This is mandatory.

Papa Smurf has daughter Kay (aka 9Mile) also on the Run. Next generation. Both will be road guards this year and Papa Smurf will be a rookie. LOL

Wild Bill escorts me back to my table. Another great Vietnam veteran that is a road guard. He also has a son that is here and FNG this year.

Band play as we start the mandatory kick off meeting.

I then happened to see another Vietnam vet I met 2 years ago.

His son is the photographer for the southern route.

Presenting of the colors

This picture is worth a 1000 words.

Major General Smith has a few words to say. Proud to be a part of this and wishes us safe travels.

Gunny was also on hand. He was presented with a golf club and they said he was getting older and maybe this would be a good thing to take up.

Every year there is a bike build for one of our vets that have lost a limb. Dylan Gray has lost both feet. He is presented with a 2 wheel bike. Normally they get a trike. He had not problem getting on this bike and riding around the parking lot.
The Gentleman that introduce him, called him a "bad ass". He had 3 tours in Iraq on the sniper team, and 30 days before he was to come home, there was an IED. He woke up in the hospital and shouted "Vitory!!! They did not get me!"