HURRICANE, W.Va. — Hundreds of motorcycles will stream into Hurricane Wednesday night on a coast-to-coast trip in memory of fallen servicemen. The annual Run for the Wall is a 10-day bike ride across the country, culminating on Memorial Day in Washington, D.C. on the mall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Day eight the bikers arrive in West Virginia. They’ll be received by the City of Hurricane at Valley Park, known to locals as “Wave Pool Park.”
“We’ve been doing this for 13 years now and this is the 26th year for the run,” said Steve McGrath one of the organizers of the reception in Hurricane. “We picked it up when another town couldn’t do it any more and we’ve been doing it every year.”
Each year it seems the event grows in scope and support from local residents.
“Every year the crowds have grown, from the interstate to the park the crowds continues to grow showing support for our veterans and active military people.” said McGrath.
This year at the park the features include an American flag which will be dropped into the event by a parachute and a mobile wall, modeled after the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. The wall will have the names of 752 West Virginians who died in Vietnam.
“We hope everybody will come out and support these guys and what they’re doing,” McGrath said. “They’re riding for those who can’t.”
The bikers are expected to arrive in Hurricane around 5:00 p.m. McGrath urged those interested in attending to get to the park by 4:00 p.m. The following day the group travels to Charleston for an event at the state Veterans Memorial at the state capitol and then travels on to Rainelle for another stay along the route to Washington.