On May 14th, 2014 nearly a hundred bikers left Rancho Cucamonga, California to begin their 10 day journey across the country to Washington D.C. This is the 26th annual Run For The Wall and motorcyclists from all over the country will join up with other riders along various points in their route to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.
When the motorcyclists left California on the 14th, they split into three groups heading in three distinct paths across the United States: the Central Path, the Midway Path, and the Southern Path. Each path takes them on a different route to pick up motorcyclists from all over the country. Motorcyclists are encouraged to join them along the route wherever they like before finally meeting together at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C the Sunday before Memorial Day. Many of the riders participating in the Ride For The Wall will take part in Rolling Thunder® INC Ride For Freedom XXVII with hundreds of thousands of other supporters.
In the 26 years since the ride began, it has grown tremendously. The organization has added the Midway route to help facilitate the growing number of riders that participate each year. Each group alone has between 500-600 motorcyclists. While the 10-day trek started in California with just about 30 riders to each group, along the way, they will pick up more and more bikers and participants before reaching their final destination with about 600 motorcyclists per group. The motorcades can grow and span up to 5 miles long!
The Central route group is scheduled to arrive in Goodland, Kansas this Saturday. On Sunday, they’ll ride to Junction City and take part in a ceremony at Heritage Park before reaching the Kansas Turnpike on Monday. At the Kansas Turnpike, state and local officials will welcome them into Missouri so they can continue their cross-country trip.
The Run For The Wall’s mission is to promote healing among all veterans and their families and to call for action to bring home our missing Prisoners of War and those who are still Missing in Action. They also ride to honor those veterans who were killed in action and for those who are still serving and fighting for our nation’s freedom all over the world.
Along the way, welcome parades, signs, and police escorts give some of the riders a taste of something they missed all those years ago. For many, coming home from the Vietnam War wasn’t as joyous as they had expected. Unlike World War II, Vietnam veterans often came home to hostility and conflict. There were no welcome banners, ticker-tape parades, or handshakes for these soldiers. Being a part of the Run for the Wall has given some of these veterans a bit of closure—and the thank you that was so long denied them.
To learn more about The Ride For The Wall or to follow their journey to Washington, DC click here.
Ride Safe and see you in Washington, DC.
Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys
