May 27, 2022 - Day 10 - Lewisburg, WV to Washington DC
WOW !!!! You prayer warriors knocked it out of the park. We woke up to rain but it stopped for our morning meeting. Totally stopped.
I walked out to the meeting and saw Diesel's bike. He got his bike wrapped. This is a road guard thing. I imagine it took him a while to unwrap it. LOL
Last meeting :-(
We say the pledge, and pray. Pray for dry roads and for the Lord to keep us all safe.
Tom asks if there are any blue star and gold star families. We have several. All are thanks for their service
He asks if there are any FNGs there. It is over half of the crowd. They all get hugs AND he says there are always positions needing to be filled so come back next year.
For the division challenge, the marines won. BUT we also added the Space Force. YEAH
Someone asked if there are any women on the wall. There are only 8.
He hands out the last 4 names to be carried to the Wall. There are still so many not found but they have not stopped looking. That is why we ride.
We have formed a bond that will last a lifetime.
Tom: I love f…in riding with all of you.
Concluded with:
HOW FAR ARE WE RIDING???
ALL THE WAY ????
HOW FAR ARE WE RIDING???
ALL THE WAY ????
*********************
One aspect of the Run I have not covered is the missing man. It is an honor and privilege to ride this position in honor of someone lost. The escort "rides for those who can't."
The name is put in the Missing Man position. Every leg on the Run is covered.
Missing Man
Formation:
Route Coordinator State Coordinator
Escort Missing Man (space)
Missing Man Coordinator Head Chaplin
Here is how it looks on the road.
One person who knew the mission well was Rupert “Preacher” Harrell. I didn’t know Preacher personally, but several on the Run do.. Rupert was to be our Senior Chaplain this year. Instead, he was honored as the Missing Man all day today as he passed away several months ago. I heard this story about him this morning. Rupert once saved a man twice. The first was when he pulled that man, pinned down into a helicopter while serving in Vietnam. The second was when he led that same man to Jesus Christ. I can think of no better legacy to be said about a man.
I have a few more riders that gave me a little of the service information. I would guess well over 50% have served.
Fredrick Doten (he is in the orange shirt)
I was born July 25, 1938. I joined the National Guards in 1954 at 15. I went active in 1956 at 17. I was accepted into West Point in 1958 and graduated in 1962. President Kennedy was our graduation speaker. During my senior year I was the President of the sky diving club.
I went Infantry from West Point. My first assignment was to Ft Benning where i completed airborne training and graduated from The Army’s Ranger school. I was sent to the 101 Airborne Division where I served as the operations officer at the Division Recondo school (a mini Ranger school), as a company commander, and as the assistant G-3.
There I was sent to Vietnam as an advisor. I was there 4 months before getting Wounded and sent to the states to Fitzsimmon
Army hospital.
I spent 6 months in the hospital and then went to flight school in fixed wing training. I deployed to Vietnam again with an aviation company. From there I went to Grad school in mechanical engineering at University of AZ. After graduating the Army sent me to helicopter school and then to Korea to command a helicopter company.
After an assignment at a test organization the sent me the Navy’s test pilot school. After school I went to Edwards AFB to the Army’s test organization. I retired there on June 30, 1980.
After retiring from the Army I went to work in the aerospace industry initially as a test pulley and then in program management. I retired for good in 2008.
THANKS Fred for your service.
Robert “Crawfish” Bazet
Robert was in the USAF 1984-1990. He was 63150 Fuel Specialist-POL. He was stationed at Lackland AFB, Seymour Johnson AFB, Hahn AFB (in West Germany), Dyess AFB.
THANKS Robert for your service.
Kris “Tigger” Allen
Kris served in the Navy, OEF/OIF Mass Communication Specialist. She was in 2001-2012. Her OEF/OIF deployments were Japan, USS Nimitz (North Island, CA) NCIS Quantico at the duty stations. Went to a lot of other places. THANKS Kris for your service.
*******
As soon as the meeting is over we gear up to go. Guess What? It starts to rain. God definitely has a great sense of humor.
This is normally a gorgeous ride on a long and winding road but not too many pics for the first leg.
Just a little rain
Nice of the truckers to share the parking lot with us.
Rain stopped after the gas stop but the road was still wet.
David meet Goliath. Not sure what road guards this was but I am glad he won.
Very few of these today.
First time we stopped here. It was only about a 20-30 minute stop. We were running late and Arrilington police wanted us in early enough to miss the 3:30 traffic. Let’s go!!
Nick is one of the road guards. They use whistles sometimes to get us up and moving. I told him next year he needs a bigger whistle. LOL
Our last staging parking lot. They have done a great job. Such organized chaos.
Darron and Debbie, Larry and I want to remind you to say “I Love You” every day.
Police escort…. SWEET
As we see the miles to Arlington get lower and lower, I realize our mission is almost complete. I also think of all the troops still deployed all over this world. I pray that someday they will be able to count down the number of days they will be home.
Good thing for the escort. Between construction and work traffic, it was crazy!!!
YEAH!!!! we made it!!!!
Platoon 5 in Ontario…..
and in DC… The Platoon will add and lose people as we travel.
Hugs and high fives all over the place.
And a little bit of dancing… by guess who…. yep Gomez and his buddy.
BUT the mission is not complete until we get to the Wall tomorrow.
Temps: 62-74
Route: I-64 E, I-81N, I-66E
Miles:257
Quote for the day:
Heroes do not wear capes, they wear dog tags.
I hope you have noticed every day I put a flag at the end of my entry. They have come from someplace across this beautiful country of ours on the day of my post. This one is from the back of Larry’s helmet. It reminds me that I am able to ride on this mission because I am free and those that serve have preserved it for me.
REMEMBER: Please thank our men and women in the service as well as our police and firemen. A simple hand shake goes a long way and it only takes a minute.
Last post will be tomorrow.
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