Run For The Wall stops in Meridian

A convoy of Motorcyclists ranging from Active Duty Military, Veterans, and Families and Friends of Veterans called Run For The Wall made a pit stop yesterday in The Queen City. Their 10-day journey began in Ontario California and they are making their way to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington DC.

“We have a lot of veterans on the run. Veterans, family members, and a lot of patriots. We have Active Duty with us. We even have a fellow that flew in from Romania to ride with us. We have a couple of people from Canada, but primarily these are Veterans, largely Vietnam Veterans,” stated Karoni Forrester.

This year, the 12th year Forester has been a part of the Run For The Wall and says that the cause is very near and dear to her. “When I saw Run for the wall, it was the first time I saw other people cared besides other MIA families. And it blew my mind. And so now I try to bring as many MIA families to the run to see it. Got a few writing with us now,” said Forrester. Volunteers provided the riders with a hot meal, laundry, coffee, snacks, and anything else they needed to make their journey smoother. Past rider Francis DeGrote said” We're from Pensacola, we have a lot of veterans, our church. We love our veterans. We love to do our best in everything that we can to honor American Veterans. We came to do laundry also to make sure there is no need that they need that won't be met.”

This is the 32nd year of the Run For The Wall and the first one since COVID hit. One rider tells us how her journey so far has been. " It's been absolutely amazing to see the support across the United States for these Veterans and their families. It's just breathtaking. It takes your breath away when you see all of a sudden one horse and a Marine flag standing on a dock and welcoming us through the town. Just incredible. Very emotional,” said Nancy Mitchell.