Motorcyclists, veterans and patriots traveling across the nation made a stop in Meridian Monday as the Lauderdale County Agri-Center hosted riders in the 2024 Run for the Wall.
The annual event draws hundreds of riders traveling along three routes stretching from Ontario, California, to the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. Meridian has long hosted the riders traveling the southern route.
Ken Ley, or “Radar,” as he is known to his fellow riders, said the 10-day journey is not all traveling. Advance riders, who travel ahead of the main group, make stops in communities along the way to pay their respects at veteran cemeteries, visit Gold Star families and lay wreaths at monuments such as at the World War I Doughboy Monument in downtown Meridian.
“Today we laid a wreath at the Doughboy memorial in remembrance of our World War I veterans, those that lost their lost their lives, those that fought and those that are still missing,” he said.
Run for the Wall began in 1989 by a gunnery sergeant, James Gregory, who traveled to the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall to see three soldiers listed as missing in action added to the monument. The event has continue to grow, ever since, Ley said.
“The next year, when Desert Storm kicked off, they realized there were some POWs that needed to be taken care of, so they went back again,” he said. “They went back again, and then they went back again in ’91, and well, we’re still here.”
In the years since, Run for the Wall was organized into a nonprofit organization and additional routes were added as needed. In 2022, the organization added a fourth route, which leaves Washington, D.C., Sunday during Memorial Day Weekend and ends at the Middle East Conflicts Wall in Marseilles, Illinois.
Part of Run for the Wall’s mission is to bring attention to American soldiers still unaccounted for, Ley said. Roughly 1,570 soldiers are still missing since Vietnam, he said, and even more are missing from World War II.
“We just cannot forget the people who have come before and given us what we have,” he said.
After a restful night in the Queen City, riders will head north toward Chattanooga. If all goes according to plan, Ley said, the southern route group will reach Washington D.C. on Friday. The 2024 Run for the Wall will officially end Saturday with a plaque being placed at the apex of the Vietnam Memorial Wall.
For more information about Run for the Wall, visit rftw.us.