Remember Our Fallen Ride: Mission Complete

We arrived in DC on Friday and visited the Lincoln Memorial, The Vietnam War Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial on Saturday. However, my mission wasn’t complete until I visited the WWII War Memorial today (Sunday).

I promised my friend Andrew when I took on the mission of riding in memory of his grandfather, a three war veteran, that I would take his bio to each of the memorials for the wars in which he fought. Saturday, we visited The Wall with members of the Ride For Our Fallen, then my family walked over to the Korean War Memorial, which is on the opposite side of the Lincoln Reflection Pond. The park ranger there who read the bio was openly moved. Today, we took the bio to the WWII War Memorial. The small gallery that follows is a hero’s bio taken to each of the war memorials to those who were lost in the conflicts in which he fought. We left the bio at the WWII Memorial, leaning against the wreath shown in the image below.

While we were on the journey across the country I met a young boy named Tate, who dropped a small flag on the ground at our stop in Wentzville. I told that young man I would carry that flag to The Wall to maintain its honor. He agreed and that flag went into a storage compartment on my bike. I’d forgotten that flag when I visited The Wall with the run’s other riders so I took a second trip to The Wall after hours. In the image below, the flag in the middle of the Run For The Wall plaque was the flag I carried for Tate to The Wall.

While we were visiting Gallup NM, I met a Vietnam Veteran (Tom D.) while awaiting pizza delivery in the lobby of our hotel. We struck up a conversation about our mission rolling across the country. While we were talking, the veteran told me of his high school best friend who died in the Vietnam War within the first two weeks in-country. His hero-friend was a door gunner on a Marine helicopter. I promised the gentleman that I would take a rubbing of his friend’s name at The Wall and then mail it to him. Unfortunately, the rain prevented me from taking a rubbing, but I did capture a photo of his friend’s name on The Wall. Michael Barr perished in 1968. The photo of his name on The Wall is below.

On our journey across the country, I met a new brother, Jed Gilman. He was one of our Platoon Leaders. I took on the role of his Tail Gunner about halfway through the trip. It was a great pleasure to help Jed keep our two-wheeled riders safe as we navigated some rather dangerous, congested, highways. Jed’s brother Frederick Gilman was lost in Vietnam. He was killed in action on March 16th, 1970. On the day that Jed rode the missing man for his brother, Jed handed out wristbands so we all could honor his brother’s ultimate sacrifice. Like some of the other riders, I left the wristband I was given at the base of The Wall under Frederick’s name. As we were leaving The Wall I told Jed that I would need a new band next year. Then and there his wife took her band off her wrist and gave it to me. I’m wearing that wristband as I type. It is always the right time to remember our fallen. You’ll find an image of Frederick’s name on The Wall along with images of the wristbands left by myself and others.

Thank you for following along with the journey, I hope it has helped you to remember the fallen this Memorial Day. Below you will find some of the images I’ve taken as we’ve visited Washington DC. Click the image to see a full sized version.