Day 1 of the Run - May 13

Yeah it is finally here. So much preparation by so many people. We were up at 4:30 and in the staging parking lot by 5:45.  All 3 routes are staging in the same place.  This means aroung 1000 bikes in 3 groups: Central, Southern, Midwest.  We are in the central. As we pull in we need to look for Platoon 3.  We were one of the first ones there so the staging group was still getting a bit organized.  We see out sign get lined up perfect, then the guys says "southern, right?"  Oops wrong 3. So we had to look for Central 3.  He was still looking to find where Central was staging.  Got all hooked up and parked.  The guys staging looked at us and said " good , I have staged my first bike". Everyone still trying to get it right.

There was a hot breakfast for us and it was cooked on camp stoves.  And the line was long. Lots of hugs as you see old friends greeting each other.  And more hugs for the FNGs.  They really make you feel welcome.

Tim and Aaron got to the parking lot so early, nothing was set up.  They have still been on Cincy time and getting up at 4:30 every day.  Also a pic of Brian for the tail gunner meeting.

Here is Larry with Keith Flom.  He is giving the Vietnam Veterans a medal as a “Thank You”.  Since Larry’s  brother was one, he gave us one to give to him.  Glenn: THANK YOU from Keith.

 We started off the day presenting colors, signing of the Star Spangle Banner and playing of taps. Already starting to see a few tears (including me) in the crowd.  The recognized blue or gold start families.  They even recognized the FNGs.

  

 We also had a fly over.

 There had been some items left during the meetings yesterday and they wanted to return them.  Will the person here left vest and they made him to push ups , then had to pay a fine.  All in fun !

 This person is James "Gunny" Gregory.  He is one of the founding fathers for this mission. First run was May 26, 1989.   Great guy!!! We met him briefly Monday with PattyO.  Great couple.

From Gunny:  FREEDOM ISN'T FREE.

 Next you met the officers.  Ken "Catfish" Ward is treasure.

 Prior to dismissing every one to their bikes, there is a question asked: How far we going?  And you here form all 1000 riders:  ALL THE WAY!!!!!

We are off and as we leave there is a flag you go under.  We are in Catfish's platoon.

We are in Catfish's platoon. Gomez is his assistant.  He is with us for 3 day as a cancer survivor.

As we head onto the highway,you will see lots of pictures where it has been shut down.

The day started out over cast but soon cleared up

First gas stop: they are so organized.  2 guys at each pump: one collects money and other helps with nozzle.  Line up side by side.

 check out the organizaton

 every stop has fluids and a snack.

Bill, Larry, Brian

 Dave and Gomez

 Bill, Dave, Jean, Gomez

Please zoom in if  you can on the gentleman left of the sign

SAD NEWS: At this gas break, we heard there was a wreck involving 3-4 in the 3-wheel platoon. This also includes those pulling trailers.  4 people injured.  No on seriously injured. Keep them in your prayers.

Here are some pics of the road guards. They are amazing and really keep the bikes safe and moving.

Catfish gave Larry and I a very special surprise.  We were allowed to ride in the 6-pack.  This is the first 6 riders that lead the WHOLE thing.  It was amazing!!!!  Being in front of 300+ bikes.  We stayed there all day.  We are really spoiled for tomorrow.

 There are bikes in front of us. Those are the Road Guards. There are maybe 20+.  sorry do not have a count.

Papa Smurf is the Asst. route coordinator and leads the 6-pack

We were able to talk to Leroy.  Found out he is part of the GE veterans board.  we will be talking later to him.

As we arrived at Needles, you should have seen the people waiting for us.

Needles, CA was a free lunch and great hospitality.  there was the high school band. And kids colors flags as decorations for us.

E-Z ( Central route coordinator) will be presenting plaques at every town from RFTW. This is in recognition to all the organization that have support, fed, waved flags..... along the way.  This one  is to the Town of Needles.

Here is what the plague looks like

(this happens to be one give out on May 14):

Here is where we parked for lunch.  We took up the entire street. Lunch was to the left.

As we leave, here is what we see 

Here is what we saw coming into Williams.  Please take a look at several of the people saluting.  Amazing!!!!  The power of this missions has many people really pulling together, united.

 Here is dinner. Provided by the American Legion of Williams.

Today's temps went from 60 to 93 thru the desert and back to 60.  And we covered about 400 miles

May 12 - Day Before the start of the Run

At noon today, we had our FNG meeting.  First order of business is to say the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer. There were introduction of many people.

One of the most exciting people we were introduce to was a "Metal of Honor" Recipients: Leroy Petry.  He will be riding with the Central route. He has a special bike as he lost his right arm in Afghanistan in 2008. (more on him later in the week).  He is also an FNG.

There was recognition of any Blue Star or Gold Star family members:

• Blue: families who have a loved one serving in the armed forces
• Gold:  If a serviceman dies, the blue star may be replaced by a gold star.

We were introduced to a lot of people that help make the run successful and safe.  Each one is represented by a different color hat.  The number here is amazing. There are many people, not just one person per type.

• Route coordinator - leader of the whole route
• Platoon leaders - the 300+ riders for the day are broke down to 10 platoons,each has a leader
• Assistant Platoon leaders
• Platoon Tail Gunner - these are the guys the are the last per platoon
• Road Guards - usually go in front of the group to verify it is safe, they will make sure all riders are riding safely, they will radio for assistance if anyone needs something. They also talk to semi truck drivers to let then know what is coming.
• Last Man - he makes sure the chase vehicles assist any one in need. no one left behind, last man of the whole 300+ riders
• Chaplin - this is a very emotional ride for everyone.  We have 5 on this route for any one that needs help
• Staging - they will stage us at any stop: beginning of the day, meals, gas stops
• Fuel team - goes ahead of the group to the gas stations to verify all ready and help the staging group get set up
• Ambassadors - they will ride to a town prior to the group to let them know we are coming. Most towns have local law enforcement blocking streets and watching the crowds.
• Hydration team - water at some of the stops

I may have even missed a team or 2.  LOTS of coordination to make this work.

Here is our group of Platoon leaders (Ken Ward is 2nd from right) :

Here are some of the bike. 

 This is Ken Ward's bike.

 Brian Draman (director of Fairfield HOG) is  a tail gunner.  Dave Mene (also from Fairfield) is the tail gunner for Ken.  Hope to post he pic tomorrow.

  In this meeting, there was a lot of logistics we went over.

• Helmets are mandatory
• No breaking if possible, down shift
• No cruise control
• No radios
• No one is to talk on CB radios
• No stopping for bad weather (they will help prepare us for rain, etc. so we can dress appropriately)
• Gas stops: round up to nearest dollar, no change received.  all extra money goes to the chase vehicle 

Around 4:00 there was a band from Camp Pendleton ( I think, it was pretty noise during introduction). We also had a prayer over the riders and bikes from one of the chaplins.

We were then introduced to 2 Medal of Honor recipients : Leroy and Brian (so will get last name later).  They both thanked us for all we are doing for our service men and women.  

Leroy

Brian

 This to me says a lot.  They were up on a stage and a ramp was there to go up and down. As they start down, Leroy turns, stops to help Brian. Brian leans on Leroy as they leave the stage.  No other help.  They did it together.

 Kia donated 3 vehicle to help transport items cross country.  Before last year they had to try and use the chase vehicles and this was very hard.  Jenny Ward (Ken's wife) will be driving one of them.

After this, we had dinner.  No charge. There was a short meeting and prior to that was the Pledge of Allegiance  with a color guard. As you see there were many saluting as we said it.

I have been told there is a bike given to someone at this time.  This year there were 2: Brian and an older veteran.  Brian's bike is specially made he actually rode it after the meeting. This was amazing to watch.  You have never seen anyone grin so much as Brian did.

Instructions

Larry and Brian were able to shake his hand and "thank him for his service"

I talk a lot about Ken and Jenny Ward.  They are constantly talking to people, organizing, making sure all the details are ready. They are 2 truly amazing people and so glad they have let me join them on the fantastic journey.

THANKS !!

Fairfield Harley Veterans on the Run

We have several veterans in our Harley chapter out of Fairfield. I thought since this is a relaxing day, I would give you a little back ground of the veterans I have the privilege to be with. Three rode to CA with us, the other (Ken Ward) rode separately with his wife.

Aaron Hornsby
Aaron was in the KoreanWar.  At the age of 16, his father signed and gave his permission for him to be in the Air Force.  After taking a test, he was placed as a jet mechanic.  He was in the Strategic Air Command, 39th Squadron.  He served 1954-1956.  He worked on the F85 and F86 engines.

Tim Werling
Tim was in the Vietnam War.  He was 20 and also in the Air Force. He served from 1967-1968.  He was in the 615th Tactical Fighter  Squadron, "Black Panther".  He was also a jet fighter mechanic.  He worked on F100, F4 and the Assie Bomber.  They were GE engines.  He said he was allowed to get in and rev the engines but only 70%.  The first 4 months he was in Vietnam, he and many others slept on the flight line. Reason: they were so busy they would get some sleep and back to work.  He also commented "It was a pleasure and honor to server".

Bill Burnett
Bill was in the Navy from 1965-1969.  He was 20.  He served on the 6th fleet out of Norfolk, VA.  He was on the USS Rankin and USS Thuban.  He served on 2 deployments in the Mediterranean Sea for a total of 18 months.  Longest duration without seeing land was 28 day. He was on AKA - attack cargo ships.  These are the ships that opened on the end , and the landing crafts, "mike" boats and troops go on shore. He was a diesel mechanic. He worked on these as well as many others on the ship: standby generators, fire pumps, auxiliary equipment and others. He also went to Panama Canal to train troops on the "mike" boats in preparation for Vietnam.

Ken Ward
Ken was in the Navy from 1977-1981.  He was in no war. He too was in Norfolk VA. He was electronic warfare technician.  He was always looking for enemy radar.
He is a platoon leader this year for RFTW (platoon 3)  and was the central route coordinator last year. This is his 9th year and is currently the Treasurer for RFTW. This is a very big task. His wife Jenny is also very involved in the Run.  The 2 of them have been great with helping us be able to make this trip possible. Thanks.

THANKS TO ALL THE MEN WHO HAVE SERVED ESPECIALLY THOSE ABOVE!!!!

May 11 in CA

It was nice to have a day of rest (sort of). We still went for a ride.  We started at the Pomona Harley dealer.  And of course you have to buy something.  Not sure where it is going to fix.

As some of the guys were getting things fixed on their bikes, Brian, Larry and I headed to the Ocean. Again 4-6 lanes of highway but we finally got to Newport and Huntington Beaches, just south of LA. Walked around and had lunch.

Of course Brian had to be the nice guy and take a picture of the young ladies.  Check out the scarf he had to hold (wear).

 BD love LG - really these guys are not right!!

How appropriate we see and hear a Cobra fly over. 

 Headed down the Pacific Coast Highway.

 We saw this oil rig.

When we got back we registered for the Run: Platoon #3

Larry and I are FNGs (Fine New Guy/Gal). All FNGs get a blue pin to denote that.  It is amazing.  When people here see this, they come and thank you for joining the run then you get a big hug.

Tomorrow will be another off day. Then we leave on Wed.