RUN FOR THE WALL Jean and Larry: May 14, 2019 - In Ontario

We had another beautiful day today!! Lots going on. It is out final day to prep for our departure tomorrow. It was very exciting for me as I have met so many new people. We welcome them to the RFTW family.

As I write this every day, I thought I would give you definition of roles people play to get us cross country. I have also listed a number of how many for each. Here is a list you may want to reference. Remember these are all volunteers.

TEAMS (ahead of the pack)

Advanced road guard - 10 = first to go out and confirm there are no issues on the roads. Ex: detours, traffic issues, … even have been know to clear some debris off the road to keep us safe.

Staging - 30 = Get to the next stop ahead of the pack and set up for each platoon to be staged

Fuel - 24 = They get to the gas station and clear all pump for the platoons to come in. There is no one at the gas pump when we arrive. They also direct the pack how to get to the pumps and leaving the pumps

Ambassador - 15 = Thanking the people on the bridges or in the towns for coming out and supporting the Run.

Hydration - 6 - They carry water, gatorade, snack and are at every gas stop. All donated by someone or organization

Registration - 8 = In every city, they are there when we arrive, and every morning before we leave. Since not everyone can ride 10 days, many ride only a few day. This team gets them signed up.

Merchandise team - 2 = travels with the Run selling t-shirts and other trinkets

State coordinator - Total 20 for the length of the run. Usually 1 -2 per state.

The Pack Formation:

Missing man- Route Coordinator (RC) , state coordinator, person representing the missing man, missing man coordinator, chaplain

Road guard - 30-35 = they have many jobs: stop traffic on all entrance ramps, guides us thru towns at each intersection, help direct at fuel stops......you will see more through the blog.

6 pack - 6-8 = Assistant Route coordinator (ARC), mentor (this is the RC from last year), leadership (Finance - Jenny, Lee Larry and Jean), any dignitary, .... this changes daily. Could be the mayor, POW... we never know who will be there leg to leg.

Platoons - 15-25 = each platoon has a platoon leader, assistant platoon leader and 2 tail gunners. In the middle are all the participants. There are usually 10-12 platoons

Communication team - 3 - talk to truckers and 1 in back of the pack.

Medical team - 6 - there for any injuries or illnesses

Chaplains - 8 = this is a very key role. Many are on this for healing. Many remember comrades lost in war. This is a very emotional trip for everyone.

Last man - 1 - conveys to RC when the last bike is on the road/ expressway

Sit Rep Reporter - 1 - This person give a summary of the day (this is me this year :-) )

Chase vehicles - 4 to 5 = They have trailer and will pick up anyone running out of gas (yes this does happen) or break downs.

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Totals:

If you add all this up, it is around 160 people that have roles

Participants = 15-25 per platoon - so 200-250

At any given time, we are at 350-450 riding as a unit.

Additional Terms:
Blue Star Family - a family with a member currently serving in the Armed Forces of the United States
Gold Star - family member that has died during a Military Operation

We start our day in the lobby of the hotel. Lots of people seem to be scurrying around. As I walk around I notice a gentleman and see that is he a Medal of Honor recipient. He is John P Baca.

On February 10, 1970, Specialist John Baca dove on a grenade thrown near his firing position in Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam, saving his fellow soldiers. Baca received the Medal of Honor on June 15, 1971. He returned to Vietnam in 1990 and worked alongside former enemy soldiers to build a United States--Vietnam friendship clinic.

I went over gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I whispers to him "Thank you very much for your service, and welcome home." He hugged me back and gave me a Challenge coin.

Very humble man.

I was just walking around and saw a WWII veteran. This is Royce Williams. He served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

As we sit at a table for lunch, we meet these 2 gentleman from Tuscan AZ. They are FNGs. They said they better do the Run this year before the get too old. A comment made by one of the men was "when we arrived in California after our tour, people were lined up and as the walked from the plane, they were spat on." I have hear this before, but still hard to hear that Americans would treat our service men and women this way. Welcome home gentlemen!!

Had to show you another beautiful paint job on one of the bikes. WOW!!

I ran in to "Gunny" Gregory (Founder) and his wife "Patty-o". Great couple!!!

Every year there is a Bike Build. Combat Hero Bike Build is an organization that builds a bike for a service man or women that have lots a limb. This year it was for Jed Morgan, USMC. He was blown up by an IED in Afghanistan. He is a double amputee and has lost much of the function of his right hand.

Prior to the unveiling of the bike we say the Pledge of Allegiance. All service man will salute and other place their hand of their heart. This is an amazing site. You will see lots of these pics throughout the run.

Jed and his wife are introduced....

…. and welcomed and thanked by the Colonel.

A comment by him really hit me:

Those that have lost limbs, did not lose them.... the gave them for our freedom.

Then a big surprised. The corpsman that saved his life came for the event. What a neat reunion. Several tears among the crowd. Where are the tissues?

Larry got a chance to thank him for his service

WHAT A BIKE!!! and Jed was grinning from ear to ear!!!

He gets instructions....

….and he is off. Smile never left his face.

Ok off to the next meeting. On our way I spot one of the Chase Vehicle trailers. Thought you may like to see how this one is set up. You never want to be on one of these. But last year we ended on one. Thanks goodness these guys were there.

Next meeting of the day is the All Hands meeting. This is mandatory for EVERYONE.

We meet up with Scooter. He is the road guard for the Central Route that is way out front. He will let us know of any road issues and keeps us informed for all the turns.

I true fashion, we start with the Pledge.

President of RFTW Welcomes everyone especially our FNGs.

Check out the participant!!

The men here are the Route Coordinators. They have worked all year and put in 1000s of hour to make this happen. Currently there are 3 routes to DC: Central, Midway and Southern. This year there is a fourth, the Sandbox. More on that one in a bit.

For those of you that followed me last year, Shanna was our staging person for the leadership platoon. Since last year, she got married and has had a baby. Her and her husband drove over 3 hours to meet up with her Run family and wish us well. Flo is in the blue hat and will replace her. Flo I hope you are ready to do some jumping around like Shanna do for us to find you. Congrats Shanna.

The day seems to get better and better. After the All Hands meeting, Little Big Mike is all anxious to find me. He introduced me to Tony Cordero (oops forgot to get his pic). He is a Gold Star son. His father was killed in Vietnam. Most of the time, gold star would be given to a wife or mother. But what about the kids of those killed?
Tony, with others, has an organization called "Sons and Daughters in Touch". Goal Sons and Daughters In Touch is an all-volunteer, national support organization committed to uniting the Gold Star sons and daughters of American servicemen who were killed, or who remain missing, as a result of the Vietnam War. In addition, our membership includes family members and many military veterans who served with our fathers -- all dedicated to furthering the mission of SDIT.

About every five years, this organization has a Father's Day at the Wall. This is to help with the emotions of all family members.
In 2003, 50 of the Vietnam gold star kids along with 20 Vietnam Veteran as chaperons, took a trip to Vietnam. They broke out into groups to visit where their father lost his life. The people in Vietnam were extremely happy to see them and treated them with great respect. For some it was a life changing event and it put some of the demons to bed.

Tony found this medal. It is the Gold Star Pilgrimage Medallion. It was given to Gold Star mothers and wives. If you look closely at it, there is the Statue of Liberty and the Eifel tower with a ship in between. The government at the time would sail the member to Paris. All expenses paid.

If you look a this side, is says "...the world war". When this was made after WWI, they never dreamed of a second world war. These medals were made by Tiffanys. you need a magnifying glass to see it. It is at 5:00 postion.

Tony has this pin on his shirt. It is a Gold Star pin that is easily worn on a shirt collar.

As we were finishing up, he made a comment " when you start out as a blue star family....you do not what to be a gold start family"

Thanks Tony for sharing.

The day is not yet over. Remember I mentioned about a 4th Route. Well this route will be from DC to Marceilles, IL. This is where the Middle East Conflict Wall is. It will take place after we reach DC. It will be a 2 1/2 day ride. We are trying to get the younger generation engaged.

The WWII veteran made a comment "We need the Vietnam vets to hand of the baton to those in today's conflicts. We need to continue to fight for our freedom. We need to keep the wall running."