Run for the Wall 2015

In roughly three months, I'll ride to Ontario, California to meet with some of the leaders and riders for this year's Run for the Wall.  As a retired Marine and rider who writes, my goal is to come away with individual stories and a collective story about this annual event.

As a brief background, the Run for the Wall originated in 1989 as the inspiration of Vietnam veterans "The Gunny" (Gunnery Sergeant James Gregory, USMC Retired) and Bill Evans.  The goal: ride their motorcycles to Washington DC to visit the Vietnam Memorial (AKA The Wall) as part of the second Rolling Thunder Rally.  Focused on POW/MIA, for deeply personal reasons The Gunny was particularly invested in the status of Marines Lance Corporal Hargrove, Private First Class Hall, and Private Marshall, who had been left behind on Koh Tang Island during the attempted rescue of the SS Mayaguez and her crew.  Later reports indicate the three Marines were subsequently captured and executed by the Khmer Rouge.  Originally classified as MIA, in July, 1976 their status was changed to KIA (not recovered).

On that initial ride, dubbed Run for the Wall (RFTW) by Bill Evans, over 100 riders began the journey, with 15 going all the way.  The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

As offered in Run For The Wall: Remembering Vietnam on a Motorcycle Pilgrimage by authors Michalowski and Dubisch, RFTW is now an "American ritual."  It is this "ritual" that I will write about, from the perspectives of the participants.

Ironically, RFTW 2015 will begin 40 years, almost to the day, and 8,300 miles from the events of the SS Mayaguez attempted rescue (12-15 May, 1975).

If you are going to ride in Run for the Wall 2015, please reach out so I can be sure to sit down and learn your story during my time in Ontario on 11-12 May.  Comment on this post or send a note to o6rider@gmail.com and we'll  arrange to meet.