SILER CITY — Run for the Wall, a cross-country motorcyle event in honor of Vietnam prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action, will stop in Siler City on May 22.
Each year since 1989, motorcyclists have been making a 10-day journey from Ontario, California, to Washington, D.C., coinciding with the Memorial Day weekend.
This year, hundreds of motorcyclists will travel three different routes across the United States. As they have done for the past five years, the Midway route includes a stop in Siler City.
The riders will leave Asheville on the morning of May 22 and head east through Statesville, arriving in Siler City around 11:30 a.m. The group will fuel up, and then make its way to the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Siler City for a reception and lunch. Residents are welcome to come and meet the riders at the church and any veterans who attend will be able to share in the meal.
Following the break, the riders will take a course that will lead them onto Chatham Avenue and take them through the center of Siler City. Organizers are encouraging all downtown business owners and residents who are available to come and welcome the riders as they parade through town. The riders will also make an additional stop at Chatham Middle School as they did last year for a 45-minute program the school puts on for the students and the riders.
The riders will then leave Siler City and make their way to their final destination of the day in Fayetteville. The next two days, the riders will continue into Virginia, ending Arlington on May 24.
Along the 10-day ride, the participants stop at memorials, veterans hospitals and schools along the route. Some host towns hold parades or receptions and even provide escorts for the motorcycle caravan.
In the end, all three routes converge in Washington on Memorial Day weekend, meeting at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Then all the participants walk to the Vietnam Memorial to complete their mission.
The bikers are then invited to participate in another event, the Rolling Thunder Parade, on Sunday in Washington. That event includes hundreds of thousands of bikers leaving from the Pentagon to the Vietnam Memorial Wall.
For more information, visit the Run for the Wall website at.
Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@chathamnr.com.