May 18, 2022
Today was the day we started! We left Ontario California on time and started riding our bikes towards today’s destination, Casa Grande, AZ. Before we left, there were some ceremonies, thanks and plaques given to many groups that assisted us with getting our start this year. Organizations like the Ontario Police and Fire Department and some companies that donated and helped in various ways. We also had opportunities to thank the leadership of our great organization like the BOD and RC’s.
It was a long day, I think it’s the longest we’ll have on this run, 402 miles. We had an awesome lunch in Blythe, CA which is very close to the AZ border. The Blythe towns people hosted us at the local fair grounds with hamburgers, hot dogs and lots of goodies along with a very warm reception welcoming us to their town. It was a very nice experience and we felt honored. We toured through many other towns and made it to Casa Grande where it seemed the whole town was there greeting us with flags waving, people gathered on the sides of the road for a couple of miles. We went to the Elks Lodge and were fed a great dinner of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and corn. It was again, a very warm welcome with friendly people with some hard working cadets that were serving the dinners and cleaning up. Awesome town.
I had a chance to speak with the gentleman from Israel that is riding with us. He has some great stories but one I thought was worth passing on was that last week, he helped deliver an ambulance to Ukraine. So one week he’s delivering an ambulance to Ukraine and the next week he’s here doing the Run with us. What a life? They drove the ambulance up to Ukraine and provided it to the folks providing medical care so they can transport patients as needed. We see on the news there are a lot of needs there. We hope they can come up with enough gasoline to drive it as much as it seems they need to.
I also ran into Arnie. Arnie is an FNG and he has his grandson with him who is active military. They are on a CanAm Spyder. Arnie has 8 fellow patriots that were either MIA or KIA. The two MIA’s are Major Walsh and Major Perchello. He started putting the info together for 602nd Air Commando Squadron remaining pilots from 1967 through 1968 and had a strong positive reaction where these remaining pilots appreciated the “keeping the names alive”. Arnie then learned about Run for the Wall and realized this was the perfect opportunity to continue the mission. Arnie has 8 patriots he is honoring during the run and obviously at the Wall when we get there. There are more details so if you run into Arnie, ask him to tell you about the guys which have family still waiting for them and kids that are now grown and didn’t get to know their dads as well as they should have.
Tomorrow we do about 50 less miles and end up in Las Cruces, NM. Good Night!
“As you become a part of Run For The Wall,
the Run becomes a part of you.”
– Bob “Captain America” Nelson
