The Mission of Run For The Wall
We’ve had some great RC Motto’s over the years… “Mission > Self”, “Mission First”, “Remember the Mission” and “CHARLIE MIKE – CONTINUE the MISSION” among others. But what does “The Mission” mean to you? We should all be familiar with the Mission Statement of Run For The Wall:
- 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.
Since the first Run in 1989, our Mission Statement has expanded to ensure that everyone understands that we promote, honor and support all associated with our Armed Forces. But the fact remains that our Mission originated and still has a primary focus “To call for an accounting of all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action (POW/MIA).”
Learning about The Mission
Very early in my participation with Run For The Wall, my RFTW big brother, James “Stoney” Stone introduced me to our Founder, James “Gunny” Gregory, USMC(Ret). Over those first couple years, I was honored to have the privilege of speaking with Gunny privately on several occasions to get a first-hand telling of the story of Run For The Wall and the issues, events and people that brought it together. If you haven’t recently, I strongly encourage you to (re)read the short History of RUN FOR THE WALL that you will find in the opening pages of your Itinerary Book or here.
How it Started
The primary motivator at that time was the MIA families looking for answers and doing their best to press our government to act based on intelligence that there were still living POWs in Vietnam. In 1988, Marion Shelton, the wife of Col. Charles Shelton, USAF was one of the early advocates. Col. Shelton was shot down on 29 APR 1965 flying a RF-101C Voodoo over Laos. Mrs. Shelton’s situation and her call for action to the veteran and biker community was an early instigator to set Gunny in motion. Read the history in your Itinerary for the rest of the story.
What’s being done now?
Per the DPAA, in 1973 when accounting started, there were 2641 Missing in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. As of today, there have been 1064 accounted for leaving 1577 still missing. The DPAA is still actively engaged in search and recovery operations and reported in an online article that “…in fiscal Year 2023, the agency recovered the remains of 127 service members: 88 from World War II, 35 from Korea, and four from Vietnam.” The defense.gov article by C. Lopez is worth a read and is linked here: DOD Won’t Stop Looking Until All POW/MIAs Are Home.
So, what does “The Mission” mean to me?
At the heart of every tenet of the RFTW Mission Statement you’ll find People. Promote healing among People. Honor the memory of People. Support our People. And most importantly, Call for accounting of our PEOPLE! In other words, LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND!
We promote healing by ensuring those veterans, families and friends know that there is a strong community of Patriotic Americans who love and support them and will NOT give up on accounting for the ones they love. We honor those killed in action by keeping the memories of their service and sacrifice at the forefront of our words and deeds. We support our military personnel with our positive, peaceful and focused Patriotic activism that highlights our CAUSE and not our emotion. Finally, all three of those statements come together as we commit ourselves and our Run to The Mission of ensuring the Accounting continues UNTIL THEY ARE ALL HOME!
What does “The Mission” mean to you?
We all experienced a great homecoming through one of our own a few months ago with the return of Capt. Ronald Forrester, USMC who was accounted for on 04DEC2023 after almost 51 years MIA. Those of us who were able to attend his Celebration of Life experienced an extraordinary event – Capt. Forrester’s presence in and around Karoni Forrester and the rest of the family was intense. There are many others in our RFTW family who deserve that homecoming and there are hundreds in our extended family who deserve the same. Our Mission – The Mission is to ensure our government “Won’t Stop Looking” until 1577 becomes 0.
Unfortunately, Marion Shelton passed away in October 1990, a few years after meeting with Gunny and the beginning of Run For The Wall. Col. Charles Shelton, USAF is still MIA, officially “Unaccounted For” with Active Pursuit. As is LCDR Dennis Pike, USN. As is Col. Oscar Mauterer, USAF. As is SSgt Gregory Benton, USMC. Others just need better answers, like the family of Sgt Joseph Matejov, USAF. And there are hundreds more. These PEOPLE are our family. We don’t give up on family.
So, I ask again…
What does “The Mission” mean to you?
Billie “Bugs” Dunlap
Run For The Wall
Vice-President & Chairman of the Board
RFTW XXXII SandBox Route Coordinator
RFTW XXXI Southern Route Coordinator
vice.president@rftw.us
billie.dunlap@rftw.us
TOGETHER WE RIDE!
