‘Run for the Wall’

GRANTS, N.M. – Sixteen motorcycle riders stopped by Grants, New Mexico, on May 20 as part of their route to Washington D.C. for the annual “Run for the Wall” event.

The annual road trip is held before Memorial Day and features riders traveling from California to the U.S. Capitol to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Participants honor those who fought and died in the Vietnam War.

“The Run for the Wall was started in 1989 as an effort by Vietnam veterans James Gregory and Bill Evans, who traveled across the United States on motorcycles to talk to local radio stations, TV stations and newspapers about the thousands of men and women still unaccounted for from all U.S. wars,” reported a www.landline.media article.

This year COVID-19 caused some restrictions, but riders decided to continue the tradition in small groups. Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks wanted to make sure that the City of Grants welcomed the group when they visited this area.

State Representative Harry Garcia, Aaron Dean, American Legion Malpais Post 80, and Mayor Hicks, supplied lunch at the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Friendship Park for bikers and the audience of area residents.

“[The] government wants to forget our dead; they want to rewrite history,” said Hicks a couple hours before the riders arrived.

“I’m not about that.”

Officials representing the State of New Mexico, Grants, and Cibola County joined community members, veterans, and law enforcement throughout the day and enjoyed lunch while waiting for the riders who arrived around 3 p.m. Audience members enthusiastically greeted the motorcyclists as they parked their bikes. The bikers were served hot dogs and refreshments and given souvenirs representing this area.

“Currently there’s sixteen of us and we’re from all over, not just California. We try to do this every year, from the West Coast to the East Coast. Most all of us are Vietnam veterans or veterans and we go to Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the wall, for Memorial Day, which is a week from next Monday. And we’ve done this many, many times. There’s three different routes – there’s the central, midway, and southern route, and we’re doing basically all three. And we go back, and we ride for those who can’t ride. Most of us have lost friends in Vietnam that didn’t come home, that can’t experience what we’re experiencing with riding, having a family, or spending time with grandkids. So, it’s an honor, it truly is like an honor riding like this,” explained one participant.

“Thank you for honoring the dead and not forgetting them… Thank you for coming to our town,” said Mayor Hicks. Representative Garcia also thanked the riders.

The group took pictures of the park’s memorial plus a group photo and received a police escort out of town. They headed east toward Albuquerque, N.M. on their journey to Washington, D.C.