NVAO Members,
The 2023 National Veterans Awareness Ride is over but it’ll go down as one of the best rides ever.
All of the VA Hospitals and Homes were open! This was the first time since 2019 that every single VA facility welcomed us with open arms. It was so good to be able to meet the Veterans, share stories and make new friends across America. Hundreds and hundreds of patients, out-patients and residents were shown, by the NVAR, the respect that they all deserve.
The weather was perfect, so, in many places we were able to visit with the Vets outside AND go inside to meet the non-ambulatory Veterans. Attached are a couple of photos of our experiences meeting with the Vets. The first of these two photos is accompanied by a piece written by Wayne Worden (our Chaplain) about a visit with a Veteran at Mather VAMC in Sacramento. Following Wayne’s writing is an emotional note from the Veteran’s daughter about the importance of our visit to her dad.
The second photo is outside at a VAMC in West Virginia. The Veterans came outside to make some few friends and see the motorcycles. And we were happy to oblige. A wonderful day was had by all.
A second pillar of the National Veterans Awareness Ride is to participate in local memorial services….to remember and show respect for those military personnel who are no longer with us. The first of the photos is of a wreath laying at the 20th Century Veterans Memorial in North Platte, NE and the second is a wreath laying at the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial in Marseilles, IL.
A third, important goal of the NVAR is to speak with young people about service to family, to community and to our country. We always enjoy our meetings with students. We believe it’s important to plant the seeds of patriotism and love our country among the young.
The meals, the police escorts, the folks who take care of our Veterans at the VA facilities….all were perfect.
Many thanks to the State Coordinators, the NVAR Staff and people from all over the country who joined us to make each day a special day for our Veterans.
To enjoy in depth reporting and photos of each day of the NVAR, you may go the Sit Reps section of the NVAO website (nvao.us) and enjoy the work of Mike Rinowski, the person responsible for the daily Sit Reps. He does an amazing job.
Thank You
Be Careful out there.
Never Forget…
The Board of Directors – National Veterans Awareness Organization
