May 25, 2019 – Day 8 to DC – Corydon, IN to Nitro, WV
You prayer warriors are rocking it!! What a great day!! It rained last night and some this morning. But by the time we left at 7:30, it had stopped raining and clouds rolled away. Great riding weather.
Before we left, Jerry needed to put on his rain suit. Now he is ready.
Even our morning meeting had no rain. Since it rained up until the meeting time, there was really no time for auctions and other ways to raise money. No worries , we have one more day to collect money for Rainelle.
First challenge is to get thru Louisville. It is rush hour and we are several 100 bikes long. St. Louis was a tough go. Ok, let's go. Not only do we need to worry about traffic, check out the construction. Yikes!
Cross the mighty Ohio.
And if you can see there are NO other cars. Lee Bush is the state coordinator for KY and he arranged to close all the parts of the highway we will be traveling on. HOW SWEET!!!
First stop is Robley Rex.
Fun Fact:
The Robley Rex VA Medical Center is an active, affiliated acute care and outpatient facility located on a 47-acre hilltop near downtown Louisville and overlooking the Ohio River. The medical center also operates three community based outpatient clinics in the greater Louisville area. These clinics make VA services more accessible for veterans residing in the Kentucky area.
Rex Robley was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and enlisted in the military in May, 1919, six months after the Armistice date. He served for 3 years. He was the last Kentucky World War I era veteran, and the last known World War I era veteran of the United States.
In 1986, Rex turned to volunteerism, lending support to fellow veterans at the Louisville Veterans Administration Medical Center. Rex logged more than 14,000 hours of volunteer time while at the Center. He dedicated his life helping his fellow veterans, both through the veterans service organizations and activities at the Medical Center. He continued to volunteer there three days a week, even at age 105.
There is a gentleman who knows about "Popcorn" Billy. He gave me the story about Billy. The 2 men and Billy's twin brother served in the same unit from 1968-69. They were in the 57th Assault Helicopter Company. It was the first attack on a helicopter unit. Billy's brother died in this attack and Billy was wounded. Ever since he has been helping all the people. The name "popcorn" came because he makes popcorn and sells it then donates the proceeds. He buys all the supplies. Always smiling and he loves hugs!!
He sees me and grabs a hug!!!
Sonia and I land a kiss on his cheeks. He was in heaven. LOL
Billy leads us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Tom and the Director of the hospital say a few words and RFTW presents them with a plaque.
The popcorn was still around today! (in brown bags)
A memorial at the hospital.
We were not able to go into the hospital but the nurses were able to come out and mingle with us. We thanked them for all they did for the veterans.
Heading to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial we still have the highway closed for us. YEAH!!!
All pack in….
Vietnam War Sundial
The Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial was designed with a unique approach to honor the military dead from one of America's most troubled conflicts. A 14-foot high steel sundial stands at the center of a granite plaza. Its gnomon casts a shadow on the chiseled name of each fallen Vietnam war veteran -- 1,103 of them -- on the anniversary of when they were killed. Thus each individual is honored with a personal tribute.
Kentucky's 23 MIAs are listed behind the sundial so its shadow never falls on their names. Some have been found since this was built. Those are the ones with a date. We never forget and we will not stop until we bring them all home.
The Memorial is one of the largest granite memorials in the nation and contains 327 cut stone panels weighing more than 215 tons. The stone came from the Pyramid Blue quarry in Elberton, GA. The lettering of the names and dates are the same style used for official government grave markers throughout the nation, including Arlington National Cemetery.
If you ever get a chance to go see it, go. It is amazing and an engineering marvel.
Look how many vets we have!!!
Remember the 2 signature books we handed out on day 1? This memorial is in Frankfort KY. We are pointing to his name at the base of the sun dial. He was one of the POWs
Loving this. “TAGALONG”
KY is known for their horses. We went past several of them.
Once you get out of the city, there are not a lot of bridges. But many of the ones they had were full of people and equipment.
Think about this:
How much time it takes to get trucks, flags, and people set up on these overpasses.
Some of these flags are huge!!!
Then how long do they wait for us to come along?
So much support for this Mission.
Look how tall this is.!!!!
Zoomed in on the guys…wow!!
They had flags everywhere.
Check out this little girl. She is dressed in all red, white and blue. Way to go mom!!! Too cute
Young to the elderly. Check them out with their flags!!!
Lunch at Clay Community Center. Pork tenderloin….Oh my I will need a whole new wardrobe when I get home.
Back on the road to Nitro for our stop of the day. KY really goes all out . This flag is huge!!!
I watch this all day as we travel thru the hills of KY and WV. I never got tired of watching. I think of all the people riding, the ones praying for our safe journey, the ones lost that we ride for, and the family of all. The news is always about the bad….. but all I see here is family and friends helping each other, and riding a mission to get to the wall. Ride on Riders. Only 2 days left.
LOL go figure there is some kind of convoy…
Yeah we hit WV. Almost to Nitro
Next we heard this loud noise. It was a Huey helicopter escorting us into Nitro, WV. REALLY cool.
Here is the Huey in town. Look how close it is to the building.
Here are a few of the paintings on it.
Here is what we see as we roll in. The people are incredible. Waving flags, music, … it is like a ticker tape parade.
Road guards are still at work. Thanks Diesel.
If you have watched Forrest Gump, This is Lt. Dan…He spent months working on this guy. It is attached to the front of his walker. He has Parkinson’s disease and though it was hard, he picked out all the details from the movie. He was very proud of his accomplishment.
For a donation, you can purchase a brick. Here one for my brother Ron’s father-in-law and our dad.
This is the Mayor of Nitro AND the Huey pilot. I love small towns in the USA.
This gentleman did not want to miss the bikes coming in. He is 97 and a WWII vet.
Todd is our platoon leader and also the WV state coordinator. He arranged for the huey, the dinners and I am sure so much more. Way to go Todd.
This is more of the Gilman family. You met Jed and Dan. Several more have come to join the Run and finish the mission into DC. Family!!!!
After dinner and as we are walking out, there is this little girl with a poster. It says “Welcome Home”.
She was getting as many people to sign it. What a great memory to have as she grows up.
THIS IS SOOOO TRUE!!! Welcome home!!!
As we leave Nitro after dinner, we are hit with this traffic over the bridge to get to our hotel. The truck in front of us, rolled his window down and said if we follow him, we can bypass the traffic. We went for about 5 miles thru nice winding roads. Kind of nice to get off the highway for a relaxing ride. We stopped at our hotel and thanked him for helping. Turns out he is a firement. Sooooo we thanked him for his service.
REMEMBER: if you see a veteran, fireman, policeman….. just go up to them and say
“Thank you for your service”.
It does not take much but shows your appreciation and respect for what they do.
Tomorrow we visit the kids at Rainelle. Since the beginning of the Run we have been collecting money for the schools in that town. It was one of the first schools "Gunny" Gregory stopped at on his first run from CA of DC in 1989. I am told that these bikers gave the kids a ride on their bikes. Really, bikers , black leather … and kids. This friendship has been there for 34 years and through many generations.
Temps:64-85
Route: I-64E
Miles: 261
Quote for the day:
Honoring the past, inspiring the future
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