Leather-clad bikers brave heat to honor veterans
By Diana Rossetti
CantonRep.com staff writer
Posted Jul 24, 2010 @ 11:22 PM
Last update Jul 25, 2010 @ 12:15 AM
LAWRENCE TWP. — They came by the hundreds, bikers of all stripes, many of them veterans, for Saturday’s second annual Run to the Ohio Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Clinton.
Following a blessing of the bikes at the group’s Clay’s Park Resort gathering place, a cacophony of Harley-Davidson and Honda horsepower snaked north on state Route 93, caught state Route 21 and roared seven miles into Clinton.
Leading the pack was Vietnam veteran Luke Patrino, of Cuyahoga Falls, who organized the first ride and is president of this year’s event. Also up front was paraplegic Todd Slates driving a hand-controlled MobilityWorks Conquest trike designed to accommodate a wheelchair-bound rider.
The air, heavy with humidity and hot as Hades, was stifling. Perspiration-soaked leathers and denim absorbed and held the 90-degree heat.
First-timers tapped foot brakes as the 125-foot-long black granite wall came into sight, “Lest We Forget” boldly engraved above the names of 3,095 Ohioans who lost their lives in Vietnam.
“Vietnam vets have a saying,” Patrino said. “ ‘Never again.’ Never again will our generation of veterans turn their backs on the next generation.
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Leather clad bikers brave heat to honor veterans
I would like to send you an article that was published in Veterans-for -change newsletter yesterday regarding the event..how can I do that?
ReplyDeleteChell Rossi, Tres. Run to the Ohio Wall
Please see the article published in Veterans-for-change yesterday regarding this event.
ReplyDeleteHi Chell,
ReplyDeleteYou can send it to namguardianangel@aol.com and then I can put it up as a post, or you could leave it here as a comment. If you want more attention on it, then I suggest you just email it and I'll be happy to post it.
RTAl:Let’s just start from the top…that was not an anonymous post, our names were signed to the letters. Unlike you, my friend, we are not afraid to disclose our writings.
ReplyDeleteIn reply to your erroneous count, there were well over 500 registered for the Run.
Yes, we were told we could park 250 bikes but when we arrived, the OVVMP had seen fit to have dozens of their own vehicles already in the area we were to park in.
You seem to have a problem with numbers; the 1700 figure was from last year, nowhere was that number used this year.
Yes, Luke parked at the Memorial. Had you looked closely you would have seen the Disabled Vet ribbon on his bike. As for me, I rode in and out and in and out filming barely getting parked in time for the ceremony. Where in you book does it say that the program coordinator and person in charge of filming the ride has no place parking at the Memorial? I was listed on the New Franklin PD as approved parking.
Once again, you do not have any of the facts straight. There was only one lawsuit!!!! The one filed in Judge Judy Hunter’s Court which she saw fit to issue a PERMANENT Court Injunction never, ever, limiting the number of visitors to the Ohio Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
OK, let’s talk about the $5000. Every penny is documented expenses to counteract the order from the OVVMP restricting the number of visitors to the Memorial. The charge for law enforcement also was completely related to enforcing the same which became a mute point after the Court order.
The only grossly inflated figures were in your mind!
The court order is out there for all to see, I suggest you be the first to look at it as you just haven’t a clue!
Chell Rossi