From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
TRUSSVILLE — The Run for the Wall Veterans ride zoomed through Trussville on Tuesday, May 21, 2019.
Dozens of spectators came out to cheer the motorcycle group along the way. They flew American flags and waved as hundreds of bikes roared through Trussville on their way to Washington, D.C. Veterans and patriots lined up on the Deerfoot Parkway overpass on Interstate 59 for a bird’s eye view of the ride. As vehicles drove under the bridge, several honked their horns in a show of patriotism.
The Trussville Fire Department showed up with two ladder trucks and a large American flag.
American Legion Post 205’s Commander Tony Berenotto said he was thankful to see the turnout.
“I love it,” Berenotto said. “I just think this area of the country is so great when it comes to patriotism.”
The southern route of the ride is what people in Trussville saw. There was also a central and northern route. They all started in Ontario, California, on May 15, and they will all meet back up in Arlington, Virginia, on May 24. They will then travel together, to Washington, D.C., to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. There will be a parade Friday at Marine Barracks in Washington.
The purpose is to promote healing among all veterans, according to the Run for the Wall website. The ride was started in 1989 by Vietnam veterans James Gregory and Bill Evans as a way of supporting veterans and to call for “an accounting of all Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action.”
Anyone who would like to track the riders as they ride to Washington can do so on the live tracking map online.