thedrifter
09-28-08, 06:52 AM
Bikers roll to raise money for vet memorial
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September 28, 2008 - 12:27AM
AMANDA HICKEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF
With the Patriot Guard leading the pack, area motorcycle enthusiasts hit the road this week to raise money for the Onslow Vietnam Veteran Memorial.
About 1,000 area veterans, active duty military, dependents and civilians revved their engines Saturday as part of the second annual Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial Motorcycle Run.
Jim and Peggy Gibson of Jacksonville were among them for the second year.
"It provides an opportunity to see some of the same faces I served with in a combat area so many years ago," retired Marine Master Sgt.Jim Gibson said. "Sometimes you think you've seen so much death and devastation that you wonder if anyone survived."
Gibson did two tours in Vietnam and saw many of those he served taking part in the run.
"There's a double camaraderie here. These are Vietnam veterans and they're brothers of the bike," he said while sitting in front of the Beirut Memorial.
The riders traveled from the Beirut Memorial to N.C. 172 through Camp Lejeune to New River Buell Harley Davidson on U.S. 17 with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department escorting them.
With $1.5 million already raised for the $4 million memorial, current president of the Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation Kenji "Kat" Horn estimated that at least $20,000 was raised during the run.
"One hundred percent of the money raised (Saturday) will go to the memorial because all of our expenses are covered," he said while participants registered for the run.
Horn, the son of a Vietnam Veteran, saw firsthand the toll the war took on its veterans. His father was wounded in Vietnam and suffered both physically and mentally.
"It's been a long time since the war was over, and they deserve to know they are appreciated," he said.
The memorial, which will be near the Beirut Memorial on Montford Point Road, will have the names of all 58,000 U.S. troops killed in Vietnam etched into its glass walls.
"Everyone counts," Jim Gibson said. "It doesn't matter if you were a Navy Corpsmen patching up holes in bodies or a mechanic patching up Jeeps. Everybody counts. ... They did their part, they answered the call."
Retired Staff Sgt. Tom Foresman, of Jacksonville, didn't serve in Vietnam but upon enlisting in 1978 met many who had.
"We pay respect and we want to see this Vietnam Veteran Memorial gets erected and hopefully one day there will be no more memorials," he said while waiting for the opening ceremony. "It means to me that there's still patriotism that's on the civilian side of the fence here."
With riders gathered around a podium set just feet away from the Beirut Memorial, Horn told the crowd that the first phase of the memorial would become reality this week.
Phase one, in which the walls are completed, will begin this week.
"We are beginning construction but there's a long way to go," Horn said.
The Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation was founded in 1998 to build a memorial for those who gave their lives in Vietnam. The completed memorial will include a reflecting pool, gazebo and about 800 feet of glass bearing the names of those who were killed, according to the Foundation's Web site.
To learn more about the Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation or make a donation, visit www.onslowvietnammemorial.org.
Contact Jacksonville/Onslow County reporter Amanda Hickey at 910-219-8461. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.
Ellie
Comments 1 | Recommend 0
September 28, 2008 - 12:27AM
AMANDA HICKEY
DAILY NEWS STAFF
With the Patriot Guard leading the pack, area motorcycle enthusiasts hit the road this week to raise money for the Onslow Vietnam Veteran Memorial.
About 1,000 area veterans, active duty military, dependents and civilians revved their engines Saturday as part of the second annual Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial Motorcycle Run.
Jim and Peggy Gibson of Jacksonville were among them for the second year.
"It provides an opportunity to see some of the same faces I served with in a combat area so many years ago," retired Marine Master Sgt.Jim Gibson said. "Sometimes you think you've seen so much death and devastation that you wonder if anyone survived."
Gibson did two tours in Vietnam and saw many of those he served taking part in the run.
"There's a double camaraderie here. These are Vietnam veterans and they're brothers of the bike," he said while sitting in front of the Beirut Memorial.
The riders traveled from the Beirut Memorial to N.C. 172 through Camp Lejeune to New River Buell Harley Davidson on U.S. 17 with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department escorting them.
With $1.5 million already raised for the $4 million memorial, current president of the Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation Kenji "Kat" Horn estimated that at least $20,000 was raised during the run.
"One hundred percent of the money raised (Saturday) will go to the memorial because all of our expenses are covered," he said while participants registered for the run.
Horn, the son of a Vietnam Veteran, saw firsthand the toll the war took on its veterans. His father was wounded in Vietnam and suffered both physically and mentally.
"It's been a long time since the war was over, and they deserve to know they are appreciated," he said.
The memorial, which will be near the Beirut Memorial on Montford Point Road, will have the names of all 58,000 U.S. troops killed in Vietnam etched into its glass walls.
"Everyone counts," Jim Gibson said. "It doesn't matter if you were a Navy Corpsmen patching up holes in bodies or a mechanic patching up Jeeps. Everybody counts. ... They did their part, they answered the call."
Retired Staff Sgt. Tom Foresman, of Jacksonville, didn't serve in Vietnam but upon enlisting in 1978 met many who had.
"We pay respect and we want to see this Vietnam Veteran Memorial gets erected and hopefully one day there will be no more memorials," he said while waiting for the opening ceremony. "It means to me that there's still patriotism that's on the civilian side of the fence here."
With riders gathered around a podium set just feet away from the Beirut Memorial, Horn told the crowd that the first phase of the memorial would become reality this week.
Phase one, in which the walls are completed, will begin this week.
"We are beginning construction but there's a long way to go," Horn said.
The Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation was founded in 1998 to build a memorial for those who gave their lives in Vietnam. The completed memorial will include a reflecting pool, gazebo and about 800 feet of glass bearing the names of those who were killed, according to the Foundation's Web site.
To learn more about the Onslow Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation or make a donation, visit www.onslowvietnammemorial.org.
Contact Jacksonville/Onslow County reporter Amanda Hickey at 910-219-8461. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.
Ellie