May 20, 2011 - An Emotional Day

          I write today’s post at 11:30 PM. I have just gotten to motel room, not exactly ready to put into words today’s events as the tears flowed several times today.

          We started with breakfast at the VFW Post in Las Cruces. Morning meeting included a MIA in Nam from nearby, and a young man killed yesterday in Afghanistan. We laid a wreath at the Las Cruces Memorial. There is a statue there commemorating the Baton Death March in WW II. It includes actual footprints in the sand made by some of the actual survivors. It was very moving. Then I met a WW II Ranger, 90 years old, in his uniform, there to tell the Viet Nam vets that he was sorry for what the country did to them upon their return and that they were doing the right thing by riding to The Wall to remember all the lost and fallen. There were lots of tears and hugs.

           We had lunch at the Van Horn, TX Convention Center supplied by a local church. It’s a town smaller than Wytheville, but very friendly and supportive. The hot dogs and all the trimmings were great!

Then we rode into Odessa, TX having 2 donated gas stops en route. Odessa, TX is home to Ray & Kay McDowell and their business, Rays Equipment. Many of you will remember them in Wytheville last year when Ray “Too Tall” was Southern. Route Coordinator and “Too Small” rode with him. They gave us all a fantastic chicken dinner complete with homemade ice cream. And they must have fed nearly 800 people. It was grand!

I’m still having trouble sending video via my cell phone. Sprint tech rep John Sellers came to Ray’s Equipment when we arrived and worked on the phone for a couple of hours. Talk about service! We hope it’ll work better now and I can get you the videos to understand better what I’ve experienced. I am grateful for his help.

The real emotional part came tonight. About 100 riders left downtown Odessa about dusk. We rode to the Permian Basin Memorial for a night time candlelight service. The Memorial consists of an actual Huey helicopter positioned for a typical evacuation landing Nam with the tail down and front elevated. The rotors on top are frozen, but the tail rotors are not. On windy nights like tonight the tail rotors spin and the sound is as eerie as real life. The ground is sandy and covered in Elephant grass – just like in Nam. The forward light of the chopper shines on 3 soldiers, 2 wounded, carrying a 3^rd more gravely wounded man toward the chopper. I talked to 3 men there tonight who told me that’s exactly what they did in Nam – swoop down hurriedly to evacuate the wounded and dead. They assured me it was extremely realistic.

 

Several of the riders were visibly shaken immediately upon arrival. Many others were touched. I had the opportunity to find the name of Marine Capt. Ronald W. Forrester of Odessa on the Wall there. He is the Father of Karoni Forrester who’s riding with us again this year and visited Wytheville last year.. He is still missing. That’s why we ride.

There was a very moving candlelight POW ceremony there. At the conclusion anyone who wished to speak did so. It was extremely difficult to hear some of the hurt these people have endured. It will take me some time to get into words that might make some small understanding possible, but not now.

I can tell you that there was a lady there who spoke of her son’s death in Afghanistan in 2007 - making her a Gold Star Mom. His body was flown into a large airport (I think she said Dallas) in January since there was no flight closer home. The Patriot Guard Riders met his flight @ 2:00 AM and rode their flag adorned motorcycles in the cold for 2 days to get him home for burial. That’s why we ride.

And there was a rider who said to the group that this was his first trip to The Wall. As he held his candle in the night and listened to the remarks, he realized the wax was burning his hands – as the tears were burning his eyes, and the anger, hatred & resentment burning his heart. He decided tonight to focus on the wax, transfer the hurt to the wax, take it to The Wall, and leave it there. So he felt his healing start tonight.

But there was one rider who told a very emotional story about what happened to him upon his return. It was gut-wrenching to hear his pain, hurt, anger, and mistreatment. I hope to relate it to you later. But I can report that he said he was returning to The Wall this trip with his “Band of Brothers” because he knew he had to face his demons. Sleep does not come easy tonight. I can tell you that he told us that he had a good buddy, who was a large part of his recovery, who later died in Nam and is on The Wall. This rider went to The Wall to find him. He didn’t know how to do so. So he asked a volunteer worker there to help him look up his buddy and locate his name on The Wall. When the WWII Volunteer starting asking about the name he sought it became clear that the Volunteer was upset. As the details unfolded it turned out that the volunteer worker was the Father of the Name on The Wall. He volunteered 1 day a month and it just happened to be that day. They formed a friendship that lasted until the Father died a couple of years ago. The Father lived in Virginia. The healing continues. But sometimes it’s raw.

We stage in 6 hours. Keep us in your prayers as we visit the Permian Basin Memorial again tomorrow and then ride to Grand Prairie, TX. The Chaplains and Counselors traveling with us need all the help they can get. We rode 363 miles in beautiful sunshine today. I’ve now ridden more than 4200 miles since leaving Wytheville. 350 more await tomorrow.