Jean Gault, Author at Run For The Wall®

Posted on May 19, 2019 by Jean Gault — 1 Comment

Central Route – Day 5 – Goodland, KS to Kansas City, KS

WOW the prayer warrior must have been working overtime. It was an absolutely beautiful day. And the wind was there just not as strong. Thanks to all.

I forgot to add this last night. There was a table:

As we ate dinner, this is what was read :

POW and MIA REMEMBARANCE TABLE

Is set for one, symbolizing the fact that members of our
armed forces are missing from out ranks. They are referred to as POWs and
MIAs.

We call them brothers and sisters.

They are unable to be with their loved ones and families, so
we join together to pay humble tribute to them and bear witness to their
continued absence.

This table, set for one, is small, symbolizing the frailty
of one prisoner, alone against his or her suppressors.
The tablecloth is white, symbolic of the purity of their
intentions to respond to their country’s call to arms

The single red rose in the vase, signifies the blood the
many have shed in sacrifice to ensure freedom of our beloved United States of
America. This rose also reminds us of the family and friends of our missing
comrades who keep the faith, while awaiting their return.

The yellow ribbon on the vase, represents the yellow ribbons
worn on the lapels of the thousands who demand with unyielding determination a
proper accounting of our brothers and sisters who are not among us tonight.

A slice of lemon on the plate reminds us of their bitter
fate.

The salt sprinkled on the place reminds us of the countless
fallen tears of the families as they wait.

The glass is inverted – they cannot toast with us this
night.

The chair is empty – they are not here.

The candle is reminiscent of the light of hope which lives
in our hearts to illuminate their way home, away from the captors to the open
arms of a grateful nation.

Ok back to Sunday….

Curtis , our head chaplin, gave a great Sunday service. A great way to start the day. Thanks Curtis.

Today we road with the Ambassador group. This is one of the advance teams, meaning they ride ahead of the pack. They will stop on the bridges and at schools. They start every day giving the team pins, cards and stickers to be handed out.

Here is the team.

Eric and Sonya are the leaders. They go thru the stops for the day. Today is only bridges so this means they will leap frog. Last 2-4 guys go to a bridge, then the next bridge….by then the first few recycle back and go on another bridge.

The team for the day.

You see some stay on the highway and 2-4 will go on the bridge.

These flags are on both the exit and entrance ramp at this exit, perfectly spaced…. wow how long did that take.

The team thanking them for all their work.

This lady was in shorts. And yes she was freezing. ( it is in the 40s and very windy). Her comment was she I trying to warm up the day for us, so she had on short…. Good logic…. I guess LOL. Thanks for the support.

First stop is in Oakley, fuel and lunch. Fuel team giving us a hard time and laughing the whole time. Thanks America Legion for paying.

This is part of the advanced road guard team. These guys are the ones at exit ramp, turns in roads, help out in the gas stops….and so much more to get things set up before the pack gets there.
Thanks guys

Since we were ahead of the pack, the ambassadors greeted them in true fashion.

Here comes the pack

I got a good look at the staging team in action for a small parking space. WOW does this take team work when you need to line the platoons back to back.

Magic… this is looking great. 350+ bikes all lined up and ready to go.

Steve has a booklet with every parking lot with its dimension. There are over 50 lots.

Now to complicate this, the platoons do not line up in the same order every day. Example :

Day 1 – Platoons: 1,2,3,4,5

Day 2 – Platoons: 2,3,4,5,1 , Etc.

Now this is the simple version. We have 13 platoons. One platoon is bikes and trailers, so they need more space. 2 platoons are 3 wheel bike. So now try and figure out how to combine all of them.

The ideal situation is for a big enough parking lot to have them next to each other. But when you have a street that is narrow, you have to line them up back to back. The list below, tells Steve the order of the platoons. The order is needed for the next leg. My mind is spinning.

Star Spangle Banner is played and accompanied with a trumpet. Sweet

These are covered picnic table. They moved them to the side of the building to block the wind. Great guys we did stay a much warmer.

They also have the Moving Vietnam Wall, 3/4 the size of the original. It is updated the same time the one in DC is. If there is a + in front of the name, this denotes MIA. A diamond means they were brought back and laid to rest in the US. It takes 8 hours and 25 men to assemble. Each panel weighs 80 pounds.

This is a Healing Wall. This is what the Run is about. We are there for each other.

Here is the Semi that transport it. There is so much information. If this comes to your town, please take time to view it. An interesting fact is that the first item left was a purple heart.

Lunch is over back on the road. WOW Kansas you have out done yourselves. The number of bridges with people on them I am guessing over 50%. Here are just a few…. ok maybe more than a few.

Here is one we went to visit. Kids there and were excited to see all the bikes come thru.

Little guys was a bit shy.

Here is one amazing bridge that we were able to visit. WOW

They even had the motorcycles on the entrance and exit ramps with flags.

They had lots kids. One told me he had a motorcycle and it was blue. I ask him if he wore a helmet and he said yes. He grandpa is a state trooper. Thanks grandpa for your service. Have is said yet that it only takes a few seconds to shake a hand and say thanks to a veteran or our current service men and women. I thought I did forget to tell you that. 🙂 I wanted to stay longer to see how long it took…Saddle up, lets go!!!

Side Note: the amazing picture of the wall and the bridge with all the flags was given to me by Melissa. I saw her in the motel later and we just started talking. Here and her husband flew from Italy to be on the Run. They have a home in Colorado. He picked up the bike and met her in Ontario. He has retired after 26 years of service where he was CW3 Army Special Forces (Green Beret). He served in Iraqi Freedom, Afghanistan, and Desert Storm. He currently is DOD Civilian working for Navy as a program analyst. Melissa is DOD Civilian Budget Analyast NATO HQ after 17 years of service.

THANK YOU
BOTH FOR YOUR SERVICE!!! (See that was
pretty easy)

Next is gas stop. Each staging team usually has to people holding these up. Leadership (“L”) was short a person so I stepped in. I got some very strange looks, then they just laughed at me. The staging team really works hard to get everyone ready for the next leg.

Isn’t she a cutie. She we just smiling at everyone.

Kids handing our chap stick. Thanks mom and dad for bringing them.

Some of our road guards talking to he kids. They loved it.

You getting tired yet of all the bridges yet. I never did. Here are a few more pics.

Heading into Junction City…. WOW what a welcome. We now have the Kansas Flags.

How cool is this shot. My niece was on top of the fire truck. She got a video of us coming and streamed it live on face book. How cool is that!! Modern technology is great.

This is my niece, Courtney. She will be joining us to DC on the back of her dad’s bike. Even though she was not here, her dad and I have been sending her pics and short videos. She has been posting them to Twitter, face book…. What a real trooper! working and not even here yet. Ok Courtney, this ball is all in your court now. Thanks! FYI her road name is Tweeter

Kansas Vietnam Veterans Memorial

It is constructed of 7 black granite panels and stands 13 feet tall and 46 feet long. Four of the panels bear the names of 753 Kansans killed in action in Vietnam. Another panel displays the names of 38 Kansans who were still missing in action in 1987 from the southeast Asian war. Two military decorations, the Purple Heart and the Vietnam Campaign ribbon are also engraved on the panel with the MIAs. The remaining two panels depict two soldiers in larger-than-life size.

Taps are played with a second bulge echo. AMAZING…. darn I did forget my tissues again.

Heading for a great meatloaf dinner. Gil and Jeanie are part of the ambassador team we were with today. Thanks for teaching us the ropes.

Roger is still at it. The book is getting more and more full of names. He will need more paper soon.

Thanks Junction City for hosting us.

Temps: 37 – 70
Route: I-70E
Miles: 285

Quote for the Day:
Never forget

Posted on May 19, 2019May 20, 2019 by Jean Gault — Leave a comment

Central Route – Day 4 – Eagle Nest,NM to Goodland,KS

Brrrrrrr………….it was 36 degrees today. Thank goodness it was not snowing. Yes a few year ago it was.

I want to show you a little of the Angel Fire brick ceremony.

Angel FireVietnam Memorial

The purpose of the David Westphall Veterans Foundation is to honor America’s veterans and members of its military forces by memorializing the sacrifices they have made and by recognizing the sense of duty and the courage they have displayed as they answered their country’s call to arms.

The memorial was begun by Victor and Jeanne Westphall,
the grief-stricken parents of Marine First Lieutenant David Westphall, who was among sixteen young men
in his unit killed in an ambush on May 22, 1968 in Vietnam.

In September 2018, we were able to attend the ceremony for the brick laying. Friends or family can purchase the brick for a friend or family member to remember them for their service.

The bricks are carried to a staging area for the ceremony.

There were about 400 bricks last year

This it the staging area. They are laid out in the order they will be positioned on the walkway.

Each person’s name is read off and the brick it then handed off

If a family member is there, they will take the brick, if not, there are others to carry it.

As the person receives the brick, they will salute if they have served. If not, they will
place their hand over their heart

Here is a team preparing the spot.

There is a salute prior to receiving the brick and then it is place with great care.

Metal of Honor recipients will have black granite bricks and will have current service personnel place it.

21 gun salute and taps are played at the end of the day

If you have the opportunity to participate, please do. It is amazing.

Ok back to the Run for today.

This is what we see as we leave today.

Dry roads and blue sky.

As we get to the lower part of the mountain, this is what we see, burnt trees. Earlier in 2018, over 25 square miles were burnt. It will be back and green as ever.

Heading to Raton, NM, this gentleman was there supporting us.

We saw buffalo and …

…..pronghorn. (looks a lot like an antelope.)

As we get off the exit ramp….

It was pretty cold coming down the mountain. We were at 8500 feet. They always have coffee and the best cinnamon rolls.

Great job kids. And mom and dad.

Here they have the junior ROTC. These kids really work hard and it shows. They are very proud of what they are doing. Our future!!

Heading out of town. Great send off.

This will be the last entrance ramp that the New Mexico LEOs will help us with. We cross into Colorado a few miles down the road.

Check out the send off. THANKS again guys for keep the roads clear all the way across NM.

Enjoy the pics. This was a gorgeous ride to Fountain, CO

Oh no, look at this. See the hole in the middle. That is what we went thru to get to Fountain. We stayed dry!!

Great reception

They had lunch set up in the fire station. Good thing because the rain is coming.

You recall the POW/MIA flag and book that Roger is carrying? Well he is doing a great job getting signatures. People are very wiling to do this as a way to not forget our MIA and KIA service men and women.
A little about Roger. He was in the Naval Reserves 1994-2000. He joined when he was 30 and became a Seabee (the construction battalion). He was stationed at Buckley Field and Fort Carson in Colorado. He was an equipment operator and trainer. Thanks Roger for your service (remember it only takes a few seconds to shake a hand and say thanks)

Suit up everyone, we will be running into rain. Here Bernadette is in her blue rain suit. She looks like a Smurf but I am sure it will keep her dry.

As we get on the highway, we turn away from the storm… yeah!!!

This is more of the riders getting ready to hit the ramp. 400+ bikes leave a pretty long trail.

Not looking to good but it is still to our left.

People still come out not matter way. Love it.

UGLY!!!

We got wet and the camera was put away. Here is out gas stop. We were wet and cold. Temps were down to 44. The gas station gave us free coffee and hot chocolate. Hurry up and drink it, it is time to leave. We are on a schedule. Every stop has a departure time. Let’s go, gear up..

YEAH!!!! blue sky… but wait, now we get wind. Well we are heading to Kansas. For the next hour and a half we had the winds blowing us around. Then guys did a great job keeping in line and us on the road. But by the time we stopped, arms, necks, back….. were a little sore and tight. Nicely done getting everyone there safe.

This was in interesting cloud. I believe they call it a shelf cloud.

Yet the still come and show support

This one had a lovely light show…. lots of lightning. I am sure the team was watching this one.

Flags were there to welcome us. Most of those that came out were in blankets.

The tables had place mats that kids made.

I especially like these two with the motorcycles

The MC ask for us all to stand and sing the national anthem. He offered us all to join in and the young lady sang. We did and it sounded great!!

Temps: 36-60

Route:74 N, I-25N, Hwy 24, I-70E

Miles: 406

Quote for the day:

S Some made the ultimate sacrifice

Posted on May 17, 2019May 17, 2019 by Jean Gault — Leave a comment

Central Route – Day 3 – Gallup,NM to Eagle Nest, NM

Today was a little chilly, about 50. And the winds were still blowing.
Started off the day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer.

As I was walking through the parking lot, I noticed Rich Boy’s
License plate, from Hawaii = RFTW. I would
guess no one in Hawaii has that one. Lee
from Kentucky has RFTW and Brian has IRFTW for Ohio. Love it!!!

Check out this quilt. All Harley t-shirts. Another one made for us to auction off.

Remember we have LEOs escorting us all the way to the
Border. Eamon said now we know how the
President feels.
He also mentioned that one of the gas stops was donated by a Harley dealer. Then he asked all the Honda riders to thank the Harley riders. You getting the idea there is a bit of fun between them.

Remember the shovel I showed you yesterday. This is Gomez. He is also our assistant state coordinator for
New Mexico.

Here we are all ready to go. Imagine 300+ bikes
running. I never get tired of that
sound.

Early in the morning and people still come out the wish up
well.

Not looking too good.
We actually got rain for maybe 5 miles…..

…..then it cleared up.
Beautiful blue skies.

Pull in to Route 66 Casino. AND another gas stop paid. This
one by Thunderbird Harley Davidson.

These little cuties came by to say “Thanks”. Love the outfits. Thanks guys for taking the time to come out. This is great to show our future generation.

Here are the LEOs lined up and ready to go. There are state , city and county officers engage to get us through. It is my understand that they love to sign up for this detail.

This is Jackie. He is the mayor of Gallup and loves to ride with us to Eagle Nest. He was a big part of RFTW and has participated in many roles over the years. Thanks for joining us. Looks like they may have put him to work. He has Road Guard arm bands.

LEOs holding 3 lanes of traffic so we can get on the highway.

The 2 buses are from the kids of Cochiti.
Several years ago the school was trying to get the kids more energized about
learning. So there was an incentive idea. If you have perfect
attendance, get good grades and have good behavior, you could ride the bus to
stand on the bridge to see RFTW go thru. The first year there was 20
kids. Now check out the bridge. Soon they will have to make a
bigger bridge. They also have to rent the bus to get there.
To do that, the kids would have bake sales and other events to raise the
money. Great lessons. This year they have 2 buses and check out how
many kids are there. Again a very poor part of the country. If you have
earned the honor to go on the bus in May, around Labor Day, Jenny, Ken and a
few other RFTW member go back to the school and the kids get RFTW pins.
They love it. Last few years, the
school struggled to get enough money for school supplies. RFTW was able
to take money to help the school out. The people there were so grateful.

In 2018, another school, Santo Domingo joined in. They too have had great response from the
kids. Looks like the same pic as the one above but it is not. Last year, they only had1 bus. Way to go kids!

September 2018 we had the opportunity to visit the
schools. The kids were very excited to see the motorcycles come. Here are some pics from the schools.

Santo Domingo

Cochiti

Papa Smurf having a little fun with the kids.

OK back to the Run.

Breath taking and this does not even do it justice.

This is Wild Bill. It
you remember the other day, there was the cow on the bike. THIS is the guy that
bought it. I like to show faces with the
stories I tell. Thanks Bill, we will be
down to Texas when it is ready to be eaten.

Not only do the LEOs block the entrance ramps, they will even stop cars on the road.

At this stop, look what happened. The respect shown is amazing.

Here is a ramp closed and RFTW on the right. I got lucky on this shot. Held camera over my head.

All day long the LEOs and our road guard work like a well oiled machine. They roll around us and keep us safe. Amazing as we had no cars to worry about today.

Here is our ambassador team. I hope to be going with them in the next few days.

Great facility for lunch.

Here is the presentation from RFTW thanking all the people and organizations involved with our lunch. They also paid for the fuel. Thanks all .

At Lunch, I met Randy. He is from Illinois and this is his third year. The first 2 years he rode from Corydon, IN to DC. This year he got enough time off to go all the way. He also server in Desert Storm. Nice to see the younger generation embracing the Run. Thank Randy and welcome to the Run family.

If you look real close, you can see the LEOs leading us

I took lots of pics heading up to Angel Fire. Sorry there are not more but we got a little rain. And the internet is really slow tonight and taking lots of time loading pics. But hope you enjoy the few I have.

It was a gorgeous ride. As we get to Angel Fire Vietnam Memorial, the wind is pretty strong. This flag stayed out like it had starch in it.

The staging team are ready for us. But as we started parking the bikes, it started to sleet and it got colder. BRRRR

Twenty minutes later the sun is out and it is even getting warmer. Wow was the quick.

The memorial maintains a UH-1D model Huey helicopter, known
originally as “Viking Surprise,” one of the first smokeships used in
Vietnam. On March 26, 1967, the helicopter, while rescuing service personnel,
was so badly damaged – 135 bullet holes – that it was returned to the United
State for repairs. The copter returned to Vietnam and was later sent to
the New Mexico National Guard, which donated it to the Angel Fire memorial.

Becca and Shawn have a seat on the inside

We head into Eagle Nest NM for the night. This is main street. The population is about 300 so when we come into town, we over double that.

They always have the most interesting cakes. Yes, this is a cake and it tasted awesome!!!!

Food here is all homemade. I wayyyy over eat here. I want to try a little bit of everything!

One of the things that is very interesting is trying to figure what to wear. It was cold this morning, then got to 70, then we had rain and sleet. You cannot stop and add clothes or rain gear. Well I guess you can, you just have to get out of the pack. LOL

Some of us look at each other and say “What are you wearing?” And we try to best guess the day.

Tomorrow I hope the internet is a little better. We were able to go to Angel Fire this past Labor Day and join in helping laying of the bricks. It was an amazing day. I took a few pics (go figure) and would really like to share the experience.

At the last gas stop we had, the lady there must keep track of the number of bikes the fuel and the time it takes. She said we set a record today:

355 bikes in 16 1/2 minutes. WAY TO GO FUEL TEAM!!

Temps: 50-70

Route: I-40E, I-25N, 599,84/285,68,585,64

Miles:289

Quote of the day:

All gave some, some gave all.

Posted on May 16, 2019May 16, 2019 by Jean Gault — Leave a comment

Central Route – Day 2 – Williams, AZ to Gallup, NM

Thanks to all those prayers warriors out there. Keep it up. We had a beautiful day!!!

All lined up and ready to go. Wow that is a lot of bikes

This is Jim Sloan, aka Sweeper, and Jenny Ward, aka Lady Jen. Jim drives the truck after the last platoon. As the pack gets on the highway, we travel only 35 MPH. This allows everyone to get on the road and get together before going at highway speed. Jim lets Eamon know when all the bikes are on the expressway.

Here is Lance in action. He is our raffle rouser. We also auction items. The money raised is for the kids of Rainelle. This is a school in West Virginia. RFTW has been helping the kids for many years. More on the school as the days go on.

This quilt is gorgeous and was one of the auction items.

This is Everett and his wife. He drives the truck for leadership support. For each stop, RFTW presents the town with a plaque to thank them for their support. That is a lot of towns. This is just one of the items. Since we have limited space , this vehicle is very much needed. The other couple is the Raffle Rouser from last year. They could not make the full trip this year but they did want to ride a few days. Thanks Jimmy and Judy for coming to visit your RFTW family.

There is a lady from Kentucky, Loretta. She is putting these bags together with a POW/MIA flag and a book for each one of the service men that are KIA or MIA from the Louisville area. The book has pages for people to sign as we cross the country. Once we reach DC, we will get the book and flag back to the family. We have done this in the past and the family are very appreciative that their loved ones are not forgotten. Roger Rash, in the middle,is the FNG that will be doing this. Thanks Roger.

The mayor is in the cowboy hat. We sponsored our breakfast this morning and has done this for many years. Did I mention that from the time we leave Ontario until we get to DC, breakfast, lunch and dinners are provide to us by the communities of the cities we visit. Unbelievable!!!

All the hands up are FNGs (First time riders). There are over half.

OH NO!!!! Is that a Honda I see on the trailer….

…yes it is.

This is Mini Mike, another one of our road guards. He is from Gallup and has been going the Run for 20 years. He served from 1975-1979 in the Coast Guard. Another one of our veterans Thanks for your service!!

Wow … this is like the three musketeers or maybe the three stooges. Dan, aka Boilermaker, Dadbo and Larry. Having a little fun before we hit the road today. Dan is our quartermaster. He makes sure we have all the arm bands, hats , pins…..before we leave Ontario. The hats and bands distinguish the role. Example : road guards are red.

Tried to take a pic behind me. Not too bad

Look what we see as we leave Williams. Blue skies!!

Heading in to Winslow AZ it was very flat and very windy. We had to run in a staggered formation. most of the way. (normally most of the platoons ride side by side).

These 2 bikes are the lead bikes into the towns. They carry 3 flags: America, POW/MIA, and the state flag. This one is for AZ. We will have one for every state we travel thru. Something else that goes in the leadership support truck.

The gas stop in Winslow was paid for by the American Legion and VFW from Tempi AZ.

Deno lead the effort by selling t-shirt to raise the money. Thanks Deno and tell every one how much we appreciate it.!!! So now we have gas paid for. NICE!!

Robin is another one of our road guard. This is her rookie year as a guard, but not her first year on the run. She was on staging the last few years.

Bud has everyone smiling. Some times the legs can be pretty long and tough because of wind , rain, cold…. He keeps us smiling.

Jenny give one of the chaplin’s wives a ride as we head into Holbrook. (sorry forgot her name)

OK now we head for Holbrook. I love the support we see on the way.

New hat Walrus?

Holbrook must have every kid out of school this day. Their side walks are just full of kids!!

OUR FUTURE!!!

The American Legion served us lunch. Oh my was it good. Another homemade meal. I am gong to gain 10 pounds on this trip.

Gomez was walking around with a shovel. Kind of strange when you are on a motorcycle. He said it was one of the shovels that was used to break ground at the Vietnam wall in DC. Pretty amazing what you see on this trip.

The local Navajos preformed for us. What a treat. Check out the colors!!! so beautiful

I think this little one got a little stage fright. Wouldn’t you if you were about 5 and saw all these bikes? She did actually make it up there with a few of her friends.

Lets Ride!!! Now heading to Gallup NM.

Look at all these bikes. And this goes for 3-4 blocks. Every now and then you hear “Where is my bike?” This is kind a common question. Need to pay attention to where you park. Now multiply this to 3-5 stops a day. Not hard to forget.

Enjoy the pics!!!

Wind was really strong so riding staggered again. If you look real close there is a dust devil. Like a little tornado. We saw them a lot today.

As we head into New Mexico the land changed drastically. Enjoy!!

Here comes the LEOs!! (LEO – law enforcement officers) In New Mexico, the law enforcement will escort us 370 miles from border to border. We will not have another car riding on the highway where we are. This is so nice.

We head into Gallup. Enjoy the pics. We were 13 miles from our destination for the ceremony from the Native Americans when we got off the exit. There were people all the way. OH MY GOSH

I understand why they are called the “Most Patriotic Small Town In the USA”.

As we arrive we here them chatting and playing drums.
They have been since noon. This is for our safety in our travels.

Most of the RFTW riders joined in. What an amazing ceremony.
What an amazing nation!

There is now a 21 gun salute. Then “Taps”. As many years as I have been on the Run, I still get tears every time I hear it. Where are the tissues? It is only day 2, I guess I better put some in my pocket.

This is Gunnery
Sargent P.J. James. He represents the Code Talker during WWII.

The name code talkers is strongly associated
with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the
Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater.
The enemy could not break the code.

We are served us an amazing dinner. Ok now I am up to gaining 15 pounds.

As we are heading out, we see “Drops-a-lot”. This is Cindy’s road name. You have seen me use ‘aka’ name as I am writing. Most of the names were giving because of something dumb you did or something happened to you. As you can see, Cindy is not very tall. Two years ago, she was a road guard. She is an excellent rider. Well she has a pretty good size bike , and as she pulled over to block traffic there was gravel. Needless to say the bike went over. And it happened 2 more times hence the name “Drops-a-lot”.

Temps: 60-77
Route: I-40E
Miles: 224

Quote of the Day:

Home of the free, because
of the brave

Posted on May 16, 2019May 30, 2019 by Jean Gault — Leave a comment

Central Route – Day 1 – Ontario, CA to Williams, AZ

It was a great day, sunny, warm weather and no rain.
All 3 routes meet in the Convention center parking lot. This is truly an organized chaos. The people holding the numbers are the stagers…this is how it gets organized.

Check out all the bikes

Breakfast was cooked on what looks like Coleman stoves. They were have a good ole time.

Here is Dan aka Papi. He is the Central route photographer. He always keeps us laughing

…. and is a great photographer

This is Eamon and Terri Tansey. Eamon served in the Australian army during Vietnam War. He is out route coordinator.

Tom Miller is the Assistant Route Coordinator (ARC) with his with Jan. Tom has been the road guard captain for at let 3 years. Maybe more. He always has a great smile!!

Larry (Leadership Support) and Jean Gault (Sit Rep Reporter)

At the start of every day is morning pray and the Pledge. Today is no exception, except for they way the colors are presented…..

Pretty Cool!!!!!

Singing of the Star Spangle Banner and the 2 girls sign it also.

This women was introduced and a POW mom, The gentleman in the green is the brother of the POW.

Ok Saddle up!!!!! All routes will leave at the same time, then split down the road.

We are rolling out. The parking lot is getting empty.

Here are a few examples of the bike with trailer just to give you an idea.

Roger , aka Pops, will be carrying the Mayor of Loveland CO cross country. Funny thing is, I live in Loveland , OH

The flag is flying as we exit the parking lot. Safe travels, I will be watching over you.

First bridge as we leave the parking lot. What a way to start the day!!!

Little foggy….. that is an understatement…

Yeah finally starting to see blue sky. FYI for those that have followed my blog before, you will notice I love to take lots of pics of this beautiful country. I realize many people cannot make a trip like this so I want to show off our country. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Amazing. The patriotism.

First gas stop. The first day on gas stops are always hectic. There are lots of FNGs and this makes the task interesting.
Here is how it works. The pumps are turned on and not shut off until everyone is fueled. We round up and no one gets change. If your bill is $7.50, you owe $8. If you happened to give a ten, you just donated to the chase vehicles fuel bill… thanks

I am going to try timing one tomorrow but normally we can fuel 400 bikes in 20-25 minute.
Never ceases to amaze me!!!

“Heroic Road Guard Save Pack from Gator”

Kirk is one of our many road guards. One of the tasks is to try and clear any large debris before the pack comes thru. Today, the Gator, (that is a retread tire) was in the line of the bikes. He was able to get a break in traffic and retrieve it off the road…. however as he was throwing it to the side, he lands and slides head first on the side. Anyone have a pic of this…. I would love to post it.

Kirk “Pretty Boy” Olson and Ken ” Catfish” Ward are on the board for RFTW and are our road guards. THANKS guys for all you do. Hope your arm feels better Kirk.

Did you ever sit at a railroad crossing and count the number of cars of a train? Well I have. Out here you can see the whole train and these 2 had about 80.

This is “Walrus”. He is standing at every exit the pack needs to take. You surely cannot miss him.

Nice surprise by our Outreach and Ambassador teams.

Here is the staging team before anyone gets in the lot. They have to know how many bikes are in each platoon and then get enough space for them to fit in a lot. Way before all this, someone has to scout out locations to be able to handle 400 bikes in a lot. Thanks Steve!! This is all done way in advance. Every year you need check with EVERY stop made. Today we had 5, now multiply this by 10 day. That a LOT of planning

Look where leadership ended up. You have to improvise. And share the lot when necessary.

Hydration team Thanks!! We are heading into the desert…. so everyone hydrate.

This is Barry and Devine. They assign the new riders to platoons. This can be a tricky job since you want to balance them out. Also people come and go on the Run the platoon get bigger and smaller. Some can only make it a few day and it could be at the beginning, the middle, or the end of the run. Devine also helps with the Registration duties.

Day is looking good but still a little hazy. BEAUTIFUL!! Pics just do not show the full picture.

This is Wild Bill another one of our road guards and a Vietnam vet. Before we left Ontario, the Run is always trying to raise money. Someone donated 2 cows to be auctioned off. Bill got one of them. Bill did you get T-bone or Sirloin? This is a little cow mascot he has on the back.

What a great reception heading into Needles, CA for Lunch.

Rick is another one of your veteran road guards. I will show lots of these pics. It captures the respect that the Run has.

Wow only our 3 gas stop and you guys look like pros. Way to go Fuel team

Bud is the CA state coordinator. Each state has one. They have a big job. All the gas, lunch , dinner….stops need to be organized. The state coordinators do this to make he Run go smooth. I will not hold it against you Bud that you are a Pittsburg fan. (He was born and raised there, then move to CA).

Here is one of the table clothes in Needles. Kids do a great job

Now a few more of the leadership team. Bernadette is the 50-50 person , Cookie is part of registration, and Dabo…. he is not leadership.. he is a road guard.

Lance is our raffle rouser…. Dadbo, photo bombed us again.

People of Needles are always working hard to give us a great lunch.

And today we got ice cream. It was 101 in the shade today and this was sooo good. The gentleman in the center of the pic is a Vietnam vet. Several thanked him for his service. Remember, is only takes a few seconds to thanks them!!!

Head out over the Colorado river into Arizona.

Next fuel stop. Check this out. We are only thereabout 45 minutes and look at all the support

See the pine trees. This is how we know we are getting close to Williams AZ. They smell so good.

Great reception in town. Love to see the kids engaged. This is our future.

The day was long and I was a little disappointed there was no table to work at. NO big deal, we make do. I may need help getting up… LOL

Staying at Williams AZ

Temps: 65,105 (thru the desert), 57
Route: I-15E , I-40E
Miles: 402

Quote for the day:

Freedom is not free

Posted on May 15, 2019May 16, 2019 by Jean Gault — 1 Comment

Central Route – Day 0 – In Ontario

Welcome everyone!! My name is Jean Gault and I will be your Sit Rep report for the Central Route. I come from Loveland Oh and this is my 5^th year on the Run. I ride with my husband, Larry. I will try my best to make you feel like you are riding with us.

Let me give you a short summary of our mission:

Mission Statement of RFTW : To promote healing among ALL veterans and their families and friends, to call for an accounting of all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action (POW/MIA), to honor the memory of those Killed in Action (KIA) from all wars, and to support our military personnel all over the world.

Philosophy: We strive to maintain a safe, supportive, and private atmosphere in which all participants can reflect and heal on their journey to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC in the hope that they can return home to a new beginning.

Goals: 1) To guide the participants across America. 2) To educate future generations as to the importance of accountability in wartime actions emphasizing that no one should be left behind.

History (from the RFTW.org website)

Run For The Wall® (RFTW) was started in 1989 by James “Gunny” Gregory and Bill Evans, two Vietnam Veterans who traveled across the heartland of America on motorcycles. They talked to local radio, TV and newspapers about the thousands of men and women still unaccounted for from in all wars. The Run gives Vietnam Veterans and all Veterans the opportunity to receive their own “Welcome Home” and start their healing process. The need for this awareness continues today and we carry on this tradition every May.

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 (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.

===============

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.”