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AMA - Search State Motorcycle Laws
On the 28th of April, 2009 I had the honor of being part of an escort of "The Wall That Heals" from the T&A truck stop in Marianna, Fl next to I-10, ext. 142, down to the Veterans' Memorial Plaza in Apalachicola, Fl., 98 miles and a 2 1/2 hour non-stop ride, talk about sore butts. There are a number of "Walls" roaming the Country but this is the only one that is supported by the Vietnam Memorial Organization at the Mall in Washington, D.C.
I got there the afternoon of the 27th and checked into the Microtel Inn & Suites. Next I called Rodney Herring, one of the organizers of the run out of Apalachicola, he was across the street at his motel. We met at the T&A truck stop and he introduced me to Gunny, the driver, and his wife Debbie. The Gunny and I hit it off right away. He had the sides of the trailer opened so that people could see the displays plus he had what he called 'His Bike' out for people to see. The Vietnam Memorial Organization couldn't ask for a more dedicated person to drive around the country and setting up the display and making sure people know what "The Wall That Heals" is all about. The Gunny and I talked for hours but every time somebody walked up to see what was going on he would go and explain everything to them, he does this 24/7.
Sorry I don't have any pictures from the morning of the 28th but the battery in my camera died and stupid me forgot to pack the charger. But here is a video Mark made of all the pictures he took. On the morning of the 28th Barbara and I were at the T&A by 0745hrs and there were maybe 50 bikes already there. Gunny was busy telling people about the display. Talking to Gunny and Rodney we wondered how many bikes would show up for the escort, by 0830hrs we got our answer, bikes started rolling in off the Interstate in groups of 25 to 50, we ended up with 700 bikes. Some of the groups were from the American Legion Riders and the Patriot Guard Riders and a few other organizations. The bikes filled up the front parking lot and fueling lanes of the T&A, there wasn't any room for 4 wheelers. At 0845hrs a local high school band showed up, they played military and other types of music until it was time for us to pull out at 1000hrs. We also had deputies from each county we would be passing through to lead the escort so we wouldn't have to stop for traffic lights or other traffic. While we were waiting to pull out a truck load of fuel showed up to unload but he had to go around back and wait until we left. Rodney and his crew did one hell of a job setting this up. The line of bikes was set up with four bikes out front leading the truck, American Flag, POW/MIA flag, State of Florida flag and then the Gunny's bike ridden by Rodney. I was following the truck, the Gunny said I was his tail gunner. Then was 695 bikes according to the guy who acted as the sweeper bring up the rear. On the way down to Apalachicola every small town we passed through was ready for us, the people and children from all the schools were lining the street waving their flags and signs. Fire trucks had their tall ladders up on either side of the street with a large American Flag stretched between them so we would pass under it. I saw one teacher holding the hand of one of her small students and in her other hand she was waving a small flag and tears were flowing down her cheeks. This was the real American people, the ones who really cared, the ones who take the time to support our way of life and our military. When we pulled into the parking lot of the Veterans' Memorial Plaza in Apalachicola our butts were sore. It took a while for all the bikes to pull in and park seeing how long the line was. There were a few speeches plus patches and pins were handed out to all who had been in the escort. I went back down to Veterans' Memorial Plaza in Apalachicola on Saturday with my son who lives in Crestview so he could see "The Wall That Heals", maybe then he would be able to understand me better.
Besides the 1/2 scale "Wall" the Gunny also sets up the table for the MIAs. Gunny told me they did have a small problem Friday night, or early Saturday morning. One of the Gunny's volunteer helpers woke the Gunny telling him that the four covers (for you non military people a cover is a hat) were missing off the table. You better believe Gunny jumped up fast. The volunteer said he thinks he knew who had took the covers. The Sheriff's Department was notified and a deputy showed up. Seems like there is a crack house in the woods close to Veterans' Park. Gunny and the volunteer went and knocked on the front door of the crack house and the deputy was at the rear of the house when a female came flying out right into the deputy. She said she knew why they were there and if they gave her twenty minutes she would get the covers back. She was good to her word and came back with the covers and handed them over to the deputy. The deputy then informed the female that unless she gave him the name of the person who did steal the covers she would be charged with a number of counts. There is now a warrant out for the person who did steal the covers and the covers are back on the MIA table.
Below are pictures of the Gunny's bike and the real owner (Lewis Colon out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL) who had had all the work done on it, you can tell he did it out of love. Lewis had met the Gunny some time ago and showed Gunny the bike and told Gunny how he would like everybody to see his bike so he made arrangements with the Gunny to carry the bike in the back of the truck and every place "The Wall That Heals" goes, the bike went and would be displayed with the "Wall". Each image on the bike represents something about the Vietnam War. When looking at these pictures keep in mind the bike is under a red canopy and the sun sure was shining bright and hot.
In the picture above those three are some of the POWs that were in the Hanoi Hilton in North Vietnam and the bamboo is from Vietnam.
The exhaust represents the mini gatling gun that were on gun ships and when the engine is running they spin like the real thing.
The owner of the bike, Lewis Colon out of Ft Lauderdale, FL
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