Run For The Wall motorcycle riders make fuel stop in Gadsden
With fitting military precision, hundreds of motorcycle riders stopped to refuel and rest in Gadsden on Tuesday, taking a break in an annual tribute to military personnel and their families.
Riders on the Southern Route of the 34th annual Run For The Wall descended on the Petro station on West Grand Avenue shortly after 1 p.m., popping off Interstate 59 before returning and heading to Chattanooga, Tennessee, for an overnight stop.
They're bound for Washington, D.C., and the Vietnam Memorial Wall, where the run's three cross-country routes that originate in Ontario, California, will converge on Memorial Day weekend.
Riders afterward can take a separate, shorter ride called the Sandbox Route from Washington to the Middle East Conflicts Memorial Wall in Marseilles, Illinois.
The Run For The Wall originated in 1989, according to the event's website, the brainchild of a couple of Vietnam War veterans who traveled the country trying to direct media attention to military personnel from all this country's wars and conflicts who remain unaccounted for.
Its mission statement, according to the website, is “to promote healing among all veterans and their families and friends; to call for an accounting of all prisoners of war and those missing in action; to honor the memories of those killed in action from all wars and to support our military personnel all over the world.”
No one on the scene had a hard count of how many riders stopped here Tuesday, but a running total of participants on the website showed 409 for the Southern Route. It took only about 20 minutes or so to get them all refueled, however.
Advance staging and fuel teams preceded the main body of riders to the station, to get things set up. Once the crowd arrived, they moved smoothly through the process, and then were directed to the rear of the station to park, rest and have lunch before the trip resumed.
A contingent from the local chapter of the Marine Corps League was on hand to greet them, as were local residents who photographed and filmed the scene and interacted with the riders, who were clad in brightly colored vests that often carried commemorations of their military service.
The Southern Route started from Arizona on May 15 (as did the Central Route; Midway Route riders took off a day earlier). It stretched through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi before entering Alabama (riders also stopped in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday).
“It's 10 states (as far as participants), 2,917 miles,” said Rusty Grand of Redmond, Oregon, part of the crew directing riders after they fueled.
This was the second year the Run for the Wall has made a stop in Gadsden.
They'll cross from Tennessee into Virginia, and were expected to arrive in Washington mid-afternoon on Friday,
Riders are directed to follow traffic laws — according to the website, the rule of thumb is generally 5 mph below the posted limit — and political statements or presentations are banned.
A group called the Road Guard is tasked with keeping them safe along the way.
“It's our job to protect the pack,” said David Mullen of El Paso, Texas, a 10-year veteran of the run, who serves in that role along with his daughter, Jessa Bradford of Garland, Texas.
“We make sure we get the rest of them where they need to go, in the safest way possible,” he said. “It's a lot of fun being up here, but it's also dangerous at times as it is for the rest of the pack.”
There's also a group called the Ambassadors, Mullen said, who stay well in front of the pack “to let people know we're coming.” They also pass out literature and answer questions about the run.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Run for the Wall motorcycle riders make fuel stop in Gadsden
