Annual cross-country motorcycle trek to make East Texas stop

East Texas (KLTV) - In May, an annual motorcycle trek across the country will once again come through East Texas. Organizers of the the 33rd “Run for the Wall” got together in Tyler.

Meeting at the Historic Aviation Memorial Museum at Tyler Pounds Regional Airport, local organizers reviewed plans for how to accommodate this years “Run for the Wall.”

“We have fuel teams, we have station teams, we have road guards, we have ambassador teams out in front of us, we have people that coordinate directly with law enforcement,” said organizer Billy “Bugs” Dunlap.

The mission from California to Washington D.C. started with a simple concept which continues today.

“Highlighting the fact that there are still missing people in Vietnam, and to bring home those people who may never have come home,” Dunlap said.

For others, like Haslet native Shannon Spake, the ride is personal. Her father, a navy pilot, was missing in action during the Vietnam War.

“I was two and a half. My father is missing in action from Vietnam since March 1972 and is still missing in action. My sister and I made the trip to Laos in hopes to find the site. We know he impacted on a certain hill. I know that when we ride missing man formation, he’s right there next to me,” she said.

It’s now become a run for all veterans.

“It’s not just for my father. There are still 1,583 men and women missing in action from the Vietnam conflict,” Shannon said.

Expecting hundreds of riders to come through the southern route to Longview, the group hopes once again to gain public support.

“People waving flags and cheering as we go by because they know what our mission is. They’ve got a family to lean on here,” said Dunlap.

The 33rd annual mission will rumble through East Texas and stop in Longview on Sunday, May 21, and will culminate by arriving in Washington, D.C. for Memorial Day Weekend.

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