Divine Appointments - that's what we call it - some call it coincidence.

I had been at the Vietnam Veterans Wall for nearly an hour, along with nearly 800 Run For The Wall riders and the general public, and other groups arriving for Rolling Thunder, and I was standing back, near the chain, trying to see my hubby who had gone to find a Park Service employee.

It was time to leave, I had held a Run For The Wall ceremony with several riders.

When a rider registers with Run For The Wall the first time, they are given a large button (pin) that say's FNG and is dated.  During the Vietnam War the term FNG meant the new guy was going to have to be trained, observed, and worked into the routine, which was a negative for the experienced warrior, so it was a derogatory term.  Run For The Wall has a tradition, we call them Fine New Guys or Gals, FNG, and the pin means that we will not take our eyes off of this rider, we will assist them when things get stressful, emotional, or difficult and we plan on standing with them at every challenge, including facing The Wall.

There are several methods for this, but once you've accomplished your mission getting to The Wall, your pin can be turned upside down and worn that way from this point on.  That Pin also gets the new rider into an incredible presentation at Arlington National Cemetery the Saturday we arrive, so it is treasured.

One of the things that has been done with that pin through the years, that I so appreciate, is if they are standing at The Wall and their pin is not upside down, we step up, welcome the rider HOME!  Then ask their permission to call this "mission complete."  Then ask their permission to turn the button upside down indicating they've arrived and we have a brief discussion about their ride, the reason they rode, and get to know each other on a heart-to-heart basis during the brief ceremony.  Everyone breaks at this point, you're aware of the families pushing strollers, babies sleeping, toddlers chattering, teens giggling, adults glancing but afraid to totally look on, peek into the ceremony, it's private, poignant yet, a necessity.

I stood in one place and looked for Pins that were still upright.  When I would see one, I would gently touch the arm of the Run For The Wall rider and ask, "You are here, are you ready to turn this pin upside down?"  I explain the significance of the Pin, chat with them about their ride, and we do the deed with tears.

Michelle and I crossed paths, I had probably already done about 8 FNG pins, when I turned and there she was, she nearly shouted, "All these people, and look who I'm standing beside."  We had ridden several legs of the trip side by side in the pack, she on her Harley me on my Yamaha sport bike, we kept pace like clockwork, and got a lot of comments on our riding abilities.  She is the young lady I mentioned - who is going to Kuwait in July for ANOTHER tour.

We hugged, smiled, stepped back and low and behold her PIN had not been turned.  I started shaking and crying.  I said, "Is your mission complete?  Are you ready to turn your button?  May I have the honor.?"  She said she would love for me to be the one to turn her Pin.  At that instant another lady rider stepped up, and took Michelle's camera to capture the moment, as we hugged and cried and my hands shook, I told Michelle, "This is more than a ceremony for you and me, this is an act of passing the baton on my part representing Run For The Wall and my generation, to you our current heroes, our willing warriors.  Carry on, you have our prayers and support."  I told her that she was my inspiration across country, she's the reason I ride and that:

Our Memorial is your Memorial until you have one of your own.

WELL - riding safely, but got a bug!

It is weird riding on a tight schedule with Montezuma's revenge.

Don't know if it was something I ate or what but, we had to drop out of the pack for the second day and ride ahead.  It started with a major headache and all has finally let up somewhat tonight.

Yesterday we stopped at Angel Fire, got there before the main group, and stood at the top of the uphill entrance to salute all the riders, THAT's a LONG SALUTE!!  The memorial there built by a Father when his son was killed in Vietnam, has become one of the highlights of Run For The Wall, Central Route

Getting a Rubbing of a NAME ON THE WALL the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Park Service in D.C. helps you find names of 

loved ones and friends on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.  

Walking to that name, stopping at the correct panel, stepping up with the special pre-printed rubbing paper they supply along with the park service pencils, pause, breathe ...

This is so emotional, it is extremely moving, and private amidst droves of people.

Among the visitors to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial some are simply looking and moving on, others pausing to take in the reason some items are left at the wall.  Kids reading names out loud, tourists talking as if they're on a walk in any park in the USA, bumping into others on the crowded path ... yet the somber, sacred place is transformed as you kneel or stretch to obtain your rubbing.  Others are shut out, and the graphite of the pencil against the pre-printed "rubbing form" and the reflecting black granite bearing more than 58,000 names  becomes one with you for an instant, making the name appear more real than the air you finally gasp and breathe.

It is an awful place, it is a wonderful place.

Memories flood into the brains of the visitors.  Whether you were there in your youth, or a loved one or friend never returned, or you simply came to the Wall because a loved one needed this trip, each one is choking back his/her knotted up throat, and leaky eyes won't obey.

How many tears have been shed in front of this massive display of loss since it's unveiling in 1982?  We didn't lose in Vietnam, we gained.  Along with our own lives, we have a wonderful respect for those who serve America right now.  We are free to walk that path because we've chosen to look back, look ahead and always remember to say, "Welcome Home."

Run For The Wall, so many people have made this Run, hundreds of people will go for the first time in a few days.  My prayer is that they ride safe, arrive safe and experience the healing that the mission called "Run For The Wall" has prepared for them. 

 Russ "Sheepdog" approaching the wall 2009.

GET AN ARIEL VIEW OF THE  WALL HERE