NITRO, W.Va. –Three hundred motorcyclists roared into Nitro on Wednesday evening as part of the 38th annual Run for the Wall event.
The event, which began in 1989, aims to promote healing, call for an accounting of all prisoners of war and those missing in action, honor the memory of those killed in action, and support military personnel around the world.
This year, riders began in Ontario, California, on May 13 and will continue until they reach Washington, D.C.
Jim McDonough, the 2026 Central Route coordinator, said that while preparing the ride, he discussed Nitro and Hurricane, where the group stopped last year.
“Talk about this town or Hurricane, when we come out here the people are so warm and so very giving and I just love this old town feel,” McDonough said.
Riders gathered at the Nitro Living Memorial Park for a brief ceremony after rain delayed their trip.
As riders arrived in Nitro, they were greeted by community members watching them come in.
McDonough said the ride is a healing ride, and it is nice to see the community come out and support participants.
“We spend 10 days on the road, and you’re looking at the guy in front of you, you’re not really spending a lot of time looking at scenery, and you have a lot of time to reflect, and when we come into small towns like this and people are lined with flags, it makes you feel really good, it makes you feel really good that there are still people in this country that are patriotic that come up to see us and when we’re going through these towns I realize they mean as much to us as we do to them,” he said.
On Thursday, riders will head to the State Capitol in Charleston and then to Rainelle. Jim McDonough said Rainelle is special to the ride.
“There’s all kinds of stories, because it was one of the original stops in 1989 and with the kids we’re treated like rock stars, I mean we go in there, even the principal remembers the kids, the riders coming through, it’s like third or fourth generation now of these kids,” he said.
Once they arrive in Washington, D.C., they will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.