On a cool sunny Southern California morning about 50 riders from Run For The Wall (RFTW) gathered at Elks Lodge #1149 in Ontario, CA and rode to Riverside National Cemetery. The local Sheriff’s Department escorted us safely to the entrance of the cemetery.
Shortly after arriving we were called to gather and listen to Gold Star Son, Tony Cordero, tell about his family’s experience with their father, Missing In Action (MIA) Air Force Major William E Cordero. Tony used several examples from popular movies, including Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick, and Forrest Gump to talk about what it is like to be Gold Star Children. In one example, Tony compared our participation in RFTW to Forrest Gump giving money to Gold Star family, Bubba’s mother and children.
Tony encouraged us to find his father’s headstone and place a coin on it to show that we visited. He explained that it is easy to find, just to the left of the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia Memorials, located near the Memorial Amphitheater in Section 46. His sister Terry was also there and they both thanked us for all we do to honor and remember MIA service members and their families.
Due to circumstances beyond our control, Midway Route Photos from previous runs are no longer available. 