JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
An estimated 700 motorcycle riders stopped off in Jackson Monday on their way to the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C.
The ride was started by a Vietnam Veteran, retired marine James Gregory, who fought in the last battle in Vietnam in 1975.
The riders rolled in about 20 minutes late this year, some of them all the way from Los Angeles, others picked up along the way. It's the 24th Ride to the Wall, in Washington, D.C.
Earl Rottmann, who runs the Harley Davidson Shop in Jackson has fed them for 10 years now. One of the speakers at the luncheon was Congressman Gregg Harper of Pearl.
"America is the greatest nation on earth and will continue to be," said Harper.
One of those participating in the program was Lt. Col. Leo Gray, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, who was one of the Tuskegee Airmen. Now 87 years old, he flew a P-51 like the ones used in World War II as recently as last January.
"They had to pull me out of it, I am a little bigger than I was back then," said Gray.
There was also the last surviving Congressional Medal of Honor recipient from Iwo Jima, retired Warrant Officer Hershel Williams of West Virginia, was there and recalled what President Truman told him when he received the medal in 1945.
"He said I would rather have one of these, than be president," said Williams.
One of the riders, Jim Petress, 64, of Knoxville, Tennessee, rode all the way to Odessa, Texas to join the group.
"It's a very emotional time and I have got a lot of friends on that wall, some I went to school with, some I served with. So it's an emotional time for all of us and it's a time, some of these guys I have never met before, that are riding, we are all brothers, and this story is amazing, just amazing, a kind of cleansing if you will," said Petress.
The riders will spend the night in Meridian and plan to be in Washington by Friday.
Copyright 2012 WLBT. All rights reserved.
WLBT 3 - Fox 40
