PERRYVILLE – The fifth annual statewide motorcycle ride to the Vietnam Sister Wall in Perryville, Missouri will begin in at least three locations:
Springfield, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; and Olney, Illinois.
This event is hosted by Veterans in Defense of Liberty’s Cav Div. Liberty Riders of America. http://www.vidolamerica.com/
This event is held annually the weekend of National POW/MIA Recognition Day to honor POW-MIA’s that are still unaccounted for and to honor Vietnam Veterans and reunite them with brothers they have served with, but lost track of over the years.
Veterans in Defense of Liberty will co-host this event with Bikers on the Square, an event that offers food, drinks, vendors, and FREE concerts both Friday and Saturday evening and biker entertainment.
A lantern release for Veterans Salute will be held Saturday at dusk.
Much of their proceeds benefit veterans organizations.
The Vietnam Sister Wall is the destination of the ride. It is located at the Missouri National Veterans Memorial in Perryville and is a full-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. This incredible Memorial replica was officially complete in November, 2018. Riders will attend a Candlelight Vigil there at 7 p.m. Friday evening, Sept. 15.
A parade of honor Saturday is an incredible patriotic event that riders can be a part of!
Following the parade we are so honored to welcome to have a ceremony with keynote speaker, Col. John Clark, six year Vietnam War POW; Col. Jack Jackson, USMCR Retired Aviator who previously served in Missouri House of Representatives; and “The Saluting Marine”, Tim Chambers.
Colonel John Clark, Retired Air Force, Keynote Speaker at the Ceremony
During the Vietnam War, Colonel John Clark flew over sixty successful missions in his Phantom II jet. In 1967 he was shot down while on a tactical reconnaissance flight over North Vietnam. He was captured immediately, spending six arduous years as a POW in North Vietnam at the prison known notoriously as the “Hanoi Hilton.”
Colonel John Clark’s decorations and awards include among others the Silver Star, two Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two Purple Hearts, the Meritorious Service Medal, six Air Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal and two Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Crosses.
Colonel Jack Jackson, Famed Harrier Pilot, U.S. Marines Retired
Col. Jack Jackson, U.S. Marines retired, piloted the “Harrier” airplane more hours than any other individual in history; hundreds of combat missions in Vietnam; has earned 40 military medals; describes the joys of flying for “Veterans Airlift Command” wounded military men and women and their families all over the country.
The Colonel flew virtually every type of aircraft in the US military arsenal, and even a few captured enemy planes!
Tim Chambers, the Saluting Marine
Tim Chambers, who served as a Marine for 16 years, began saluting motorcyclists in 2002 at The Rolling Thunder. This is an annual Memorial Day motorcycle gathering in Washington D.C. dedicated to service members that were abandoned after the Vietnam War. The veteran has not missed the event in over two decades now. In previous years, he would hold the salute for between three and five hours as hundreds of thousands of motorcycles drove by.
In 2020 Chambers stood on a busy Washington D.C. street corner in his dress blues for 24 hours over Memorial Day weekend in order to raise awareness of veteran suicide.
His nonprofit organization, the Saluting Marine Cares, pays for medical bills that are uncovered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.