Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Something's buggin me.
Yesterday was a fun filled and exciting day... let me tell you all about it. Actually, let me eat a little humble pie and detail my misery. Feel free to laugh.
As you ,ayknow from my recent postings on FB and Twitter... Ive picked up a stomach bug over the past few days. I have basically urinated from my behind for two days now. I decided yesterday that even though I felt bad and was probably a tad bit dehydrated I would walk. I made it 18 miles and crossed into New Mexico around 5PM. During this 18 mile walk yesterday I experienced an issue. I had an accident. In my pants. Yes, I crapped myself. Worse thing about it.... besides having poo in my pants..... I had to walk a good half mile to the next gas station. I got to a Circle K where I went straight to the handicapped stall since I would need room to move. I ended up cutting away my undies and trashing them. I cleaned up and headed out again. Adding to this event was that the wind was blowing in my face fairly strong. Now that I had no under pants on and the wind was blowing directly at me... OH! and my shorts were super thin.......I was showing off all of my "features" to passing motorists. The upside to all this? I was pleasantly cool for the remainder of my walk.
Ok, enough of that.... Here is the game plan at this point. We are going to keep walking for Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The original donations page at firstgiving.com/jacobparrish1 is still up and still taking donations. Soldiers Angels has been a big help since the FB page sabatage and Chris and I are thankful to have their support. Ms Patti who is the founder has been great in helping with connections. We will walk to help support them as well.
We will continue as originally planned and stay the course. At this point I wont worry about my personal finances. I think it was selfish of me to even allow that to be a consideration by me and so I apologize to anyone I let down because of it.
So, on thru New Mexico then to Tucson and Phoenix in Arizona and then CALI!
At this point I am feeling a little better and I think by tomorrow Ill be good to go.
Im going to go eat a little something now and get some Gatorade in me....
As you ,ayknow from my recent postings on FB and Twitter... Ive picked up a stomach bug over the past few days. I have basically urinated from my behind for two days now. I decided yesterday that even though I felt bad and was probably a tad bit dehydrated I would walk. I made it 18 miles and crossed into New Mexico around 5PM. During this 18 mile walk yesterday I experienced an issue. I had an accident. In my pants. Yes, I crapped myself. Worse thing about it.... besides having poo in my pants..... I had to walk a good half mile to the next gas station. I got to a Circle K where I went straight to the handicapped stall since I would need room to move. I ended up cutting away my undies and trashing them. I cleaned up and headed out again. Adding to this event was that the wind was blowing in my face fairly strong. Now that I had no under pants on and the wind was blowing directly at me... OH! and my shorts were super thin.......I was showing off all of my "features" to passing motorists. The upside to all this? I was pleasantly cool for the remainder of my walk.
Ok, enough of that.... Here is the game plan at this point. We are going to keep walking for Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The original donations page at firstgiving.com/jacobparrish1 is still up and still taking donations. Soldiers Angels has been a big help since the FB page sabatage and Chris and I are thankful to have their support. Ms Patti who is the founder has been great in helping with connections. We will walk to help support them as well.
We will continue as originally planned and stay the course. At this point I wont worry about my personal finances. I think it was selfish of me to even allow that to be a consideration by me and so I apologize to anyone I let down because of it.
So, on thru New Mexico then to Tucson and Phoenix in Arizona and then CALI!
At this point I am feeling a little better and I think by tomorrow Ill be good to go.
Im going to go eat a little something now and get some Gatorade in me....
Thursday, June 16, 2011
13 exits till we are outta texas!
Well, I haven't felt good since yesterday evening. Im not sure if I ate something bad or not but Ive found myself visiting the bathroom very frequently the last two days. Today I tried to walk and didn't get far. I grabbed a hotel room and here I am....hope this bug goes away by tomorrow. I need to make some progress. On a lighter note, Chris made it here yesterday.
I had been staying with a senior NCO on Ft Bliss the past few days and Chris met up with me at the gate and I guided him to MSG Domko's House on post. Chris and I stayed there last night and got some good sleep. I could tell he was exhausted as he was nodding off on the couch while watching TV.
We drove around post for a while this morning loading up on a few supplies and by lunch I was on the trail again. Like I said, I didn't feel good so I didn't make it far but its progress, kinda.
So, tomorrow is another day and we will give it a go again. Hoping for much better progress tomorrow.
Wishing everyone a good night... Im off to bed.
PS, A lady by the name of Glennette Jackson set up a Scentsy fundraiser. 25% of all sales will go to the TREK and our charities. If you haven't seen it yet, go by and see if there is something you like. You can donate and get a great product all at the same time. The link is on my personal FB page and the T4H page.
So, goodnight.
I had been staying with a senior NCO on Ft Bliss the past few days and Chris met up with me at the gate and I guided him to MSG Domko's House on post. Chris and I stayed there last night and got some good sleep. I could tell he was exhausted as he was nodding off on the couch while watching TV.
We drove around post for a while this morning loading up on a few supplies and by lunch I was on the trail again. Like I said, I didn't feel good so I didn't make it far but its progress, kinda.
So, tomorrow is another day and we will give it a go again. Hoping for much better progress tomorrow.
Wishing everyone a good night... Im off to bed.
PS, A lady by the name of Glennette Jackson set up a Scentsy fundraiser. 25% of all sales will go to the TREK and our charities. If you haven't seen it yet, go by and see if there is something you like. You can donate and get a great product all at the same time. The link is on my personal FB page and the T4H page.
So, goodnight.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Hangin tough in EP.
Chris should be out here this weekend by Sunday at the latest. Bleakly RV in Ga donated an RV air conditioning unit and also installed it in the roof of the humvee for free! Through my aunt and mom we were also able to locate and secure the generator that we need to power said AC as well as provide the power to electrical outlets so we can charge our phones and laptops.
Soldiers Angels has been a big help to me while in EP. I have received many calls from them offering their support and assistance and even had one young lady drop me off some groceries.
A Master Sgt here at Ft Bliss is going to put me up in his house until Chris gets here which will be great. IT will help to save money and we can put that to fuel and other needs.
Ill give you an update once Chris gets here and let you know the game plan.
Soldiers Angels has been a big help to me while in EP. I have received many calls from them offering their support and assistance and even had one young lady drop me off some groceries.
A Master Sgt here at Ft Bliss is going to put me up in his house until Chris gets here which will be great. IT will help to save money and we can put that to fuel and other needs.
Ill give you an update once Chris gets here and let you know the game plan.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Waiting in El Paso.
These past few days or even week have felt like a hurricane of events tossing me around in life. Thanks to family and friends Chris and I are persevering and will continue this Trek For Hope somehow. I think its more of a principal thing now. I cant let it die, not like this.
So, here is the story of me, Troy Yocum, Wish Upon A Hero and Hike For Our Heroe's.................
I originally was walking to raise funds and awareness for the Special operations Warrior Foundation. I set out on my Trek with the plan of using road donations from the American people to support my needs on the trail such as food, water, hotels etc. As I moved further west I saw the donations and interest in the Trek die out. I was dipping into my own personal bank account to continue the trek and eventually I came to the decision that I wasnt going to be able to keep that up. I had that money set aside for extreme emergencies but really for me to start over once I returned to Tampa. So, I contacted SOWF and said once I reached El Paso I was going to stop the Trek and grab a bus ride back to florida. They understood the situation and were thankful for all I had done for them. There was no bad blood between us and there is none still.
I posted on my Trek For Hope FB page that I was going to call it in El Paso. That page was hijacked by Troy and shut down.... we will get to that.
So Troy Yocum contacts me with a proposal. I had told him via text that I would be stopping. So, he offers to have me join his charity and says he can get me an ops budget and a support team and we will be up and running almost immediately. I thought about it and said yes to it. It would allow me to continue what I started but more importantly it would allow me to continue to help my fellow troops and their families. Plus, I didnt want the Trek to end....Im kinda hard headed like that.
So Troy told me to wait in El Paso till Chris Williams arrived with the escort vehicle. Chris is my escort driver and has been prepping and outfitting an actual M998 medevac Humvee to follow me the rest of the Trek. Chris has spent thousands on this operation. Well, Troy had 500 dollars sent to me when i was a few days out from EP for supplies and rooms while in EP. Troy told me that there were no rooms available in EP and he couldn't get me a free room..... he had promised me this on the phone during his come aboard speech. So, I ended up finding a room just fine and spent some of the 500 that night on the room and food etc.
While all this is going on, I am suppossed to have a team set up. Troy tells me he has a team leader for me and he is going to get me going. I never realized that support team. I heard alot of promises from Troy but outside of the 500 dollars I never saw anything.
Well, I and Chris gave Troy admin status on our pages so he could help post and promote.
Just 2 days ago now, I had a text conversation with troy about the issues of paying for rooms and running out of money if I did(55-70 a night and it goes fast coupled with food) and also how he was erasing postings of people that were working hard to help raise funds for a generator for the escort vehicle. Well, it seems Troy didn't like that I was calling him out on these issues and he got pissed off and threw a temper tantrum and shut down my page and Chris's page. I did tell him that it seemed like we were on different pages, books even and it may be best to go our separate ways. He took that all wrong and called me a quitter and said I was looking to quit. I did say that "quitting has always been an option and I didnt need him for that." True enough, I could have quit after the first mile....no one is forcing me to do this. Troy had also linked my trekforhope.com to a firstgiving.com donations page in order to raise funds. He is still using that name to solicit donations and these donations are going to HIS pockets. Come to find out he is working for a FOR-PROFIT organization. So, he raises funds to put in his pocket as well. I saw that when I met him in Jackson MS to meet the governor. He bought an Apple iPad2 with what I believe to be donations money. He is sponsored by Green Beans coffee and he asked Mareike how much money they had left from the GB funds and thats what he used to buy his new toy. This was iPad number 2 for them I believe. So, it seems from my experience that Troy is not so aboveboard. I have had so many ppl contact me via email, text and calls to tell me how they had a bad experience with him and how they are still supporting me and chris... please dont quit...dont let him get to you etc. Thats awesome! Im so glad to know so many people are behind me. Thank you so much!
I know I am slandering Troy to a point...this isnt all I could say I guess.....Im to the point that I feel it needs to be said. There are those of us that are truly in this to help others and then it would seem there are those who are after glory and riches. Know who your friends are is all I can say. There are snakes out there.
So, the Trek will continue. Chris and I will pull together and start over. With freinds and family like ours and God above, we cant fail.
There is a new FB page for me thanks to my vet freind in Dallas Ga, Jim. search under MattsTrekForHope on FB. Hope to see you all there soon so we can continue mission.
Love to all!
So, here is the story of me, Troy Yocum, Wish Upon A Hero and Hike For Our Heroe's.................
I originally was walking to raise funds and awareness for the Special operations Warrior Foundation. I set out on my Trek with the plan of using road donations from the American people to support my needs on the trail such as food, water, hotels etc. As I moved further west I saw the donations and interest in the Trek die out. I was dipping into my own personal bank account to continue the trek and eventually I came to the decision that I wasnt going to be able to keep that up. I had that money set aside for extreme emergencies but really for me to start over once I returned to Tampa. So, I contacted SOWF and said once I reached El Paso I was going to stop the Trek and grab a bus ride back to florida. They understood the situation and were thankful for all I had done for them. There was no bad blood between us and there is none still.
I posted on my Trek For Hope FB page that I was going to call it in El Paso. That page was hijacked by Troy and shut down.... we will get to that.
So Troy Yocum contacts me with a proposal. I had told him via text that I would be stopping. So, he offers to have me join his charity and says he can get me an ops budget and a support team and we will be up and running almost immediately. I thought about it and said yes to it. It would allow me to continue what I started but more importantly it would allow me to continue to help my fellow troops and their families. Plus, I didnt want the Trek to end....Im kinda hard headed like that.
So Troy told me to wait in El Paso till Chris Williams arrived with the escort vehicle. Chris is my escort driver and has been prepping and outfitting an actual M998 medevac Humvee to follow me the rest of the Trek. Chris has spent thousands on this operation. Well, Troy had 500 dollars sent to me when i was a few days out from EP for supplies and rooms while in EP. Troy told me that there were no rooms available in EP and he couldn't get me a free room..... he had promised me this on the phone during his come aboard speech. So, I ended up finding a room just fine and spent some of the 500 that night on the room and food etc.
While all this is going on, I am suppossed to have a team set up. Troy tells me he has a team leader for me and he is going to get me going. I never realized that support team. I heard alot of promises from Troy but outside of the 500 dollars I never saw anything.
Well, I and Chris gave Troy admin status on our pages so he could help post and promote.
Just 2 days ago now, I had a text conversation with troy about the issues of paying for rooms and running out of money if I did(55-70 a night and it goes fast coupled with food) and also how he was erasing postings of people that were working hard to help raise funds for a generator for the escort vehicle. Well, it seems Troy didn't like that I was calling him out on these issues and he got pissed off and threw a temper tantrum and shut down my page and Chris's page. I did tell him that it seemed like we were on different pages, books even and it may be best to go our separate ways. He took that all wrong and called me a quitter and said I was looking to quit. I did say that "quitting has always been an option and I didnt need him for that." True enough, I could have quit after the first mile....no one is forcing me to do this. Troy had also linked my trekforhope.com to a firstgiving.com donations page in order to raise funds. He is still using that name to solicit donations and these donations are going to HIS pockets. Come to find out he is working for a FOR-PROFIT organization. So, he raises funds to put in his pocket as well. I saw that when I met him in Jackson MS to meet the governor. He bought an Apple iPad2 with what I believe to be donations money. He is sponsored by Green Beans coffee and he asked Mareike how much money they had left from the GB funds and thats what he used to buy his new toy. This was iPad number 2 for them I believe. So, it seems from my experience that Troy is not so aboveboard. I have had so many ppl contact me via email, text and calls to tell me how they had a bad experience with him and how they are still supporting me and chris... please dont quit...dont let him get to you etc. Thats awesome! Im so glad to know so many people are behind me. Thank you so much!
I know I am slandering Troy to a point...this isnt all I could say I guess.....Im to the point that I feel it needs to be said. There are those of us that are truly in this to help others and then it would seem there are those who are after glory and riches. Know who your friends are is all I can say. There are snakes out there.
So, the Trek will continue. Chris and I will pull together and start over. With freinds and family like ours and God above, we cant fail.
There is a new FB page for me thanks to my vet freind in Dallas Ga, Jim. search under MattsTrekForHope on FB. Hope to see you all there soon so we can continue mission.
Love to all!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Finally in Van Horn TX!!!
The past couple days were rough on me both physically and mentally. I'll get to all that in just a second. Let me start back at Odessa since I believe I left you there.
From Odessa I went to Monahans. Not much happened on that leg that I remember. Once I got to Monahans I grabbed a room for the night. Now, talk about destiny/divine intervention, a woman contacts me and says she and her husband live just north of there in New Mexico and he just found me and the page just hours before. Her name was Kim and Kim sausage wanted to come down and buy me dinner and resupply me as needed.
Well, Kim and husband Rance showed up with the kiddies and we went to a steakhouse and irate well. It was a great night and after a good sleep I got up ad hit it again.
The wind had/has been horrible all the way from at least midland area. It only seems to be getting worse as i get farther west.
In Pyote Texas or Just outside of it, I was alerted to an old bomber base that was still around but in shambles. I found it off the road and started to explore. If you are on FB then ou saw the 3 videos I made from the place. It was an interesting experience.
Next was Pecos Texas.
I did get a room in pecos by the walmart so I could resupply for the next stretch to van horn. According to legend, pecos was where the first rodeo took place and reeves county is one of the larger if not the largest county in Texas.
After pecos I moved out to my completely alone desert phase. No towns for 4 days. Let me say that this was the longest stretch that I haven't had anyone to talk to or a place to resupply. You may think you are lonely because you don't have a boyfriend or a wife or whatever... Or thy you don't have friends but let me tel you that you don't know lonely till you go thru that. I have never felt so alone and it drove me nuts in my head. You can only do the iPod or talk to yourself or sing loudly for so long before you get completely bored and frustrated.
One good thing that happened was a resupply from a deputy from the reeves county sheriffs dept. I was stopped by two deputies in pecos that were checking me out and one was a K9 deputy. Well, just before sundown and just before the I-10 merge I took stock of my water and realized I might be low or empty before I hit my van horn mark. I put the word out on FB for a resupply from anyone in the area. Kim from New Mexico again helps out by contacting the reeves court sheriffs dept and having someone come out with water. It happened to be te same K9 deputy that stopped me in pecos! He was a good guy and has lots of family in the service as well. Our law enforcement are just as important and should be thanked equally as our military. They certainly do a hard job and sometimes go with no thanks. Randomly thank an officer one day. Bet you will make their day.
So after the water run and the merge onto I-10, I made it to Van Horn. I was contacted by Donna in Utah just as I was about tree miles out of van horn. She said she and her husband steve follow me on FB and she wanted to get me a room for the night and a good meal. After working it out thru paypal and then checking in, I laid on the bed for an hour in just my draws with the AC on blast. Man that felt great.
There us a historic hotel here called the El Capitan. It has a bar/restaurant in it and that's where I had dinner last night. I met Lisa Marie and Trish who were working that night and had an excellent meal that was cooked by Chef Jay. The girls were great but I may have talked their ear off! They were sweethearts and I enjoyed my time there with them.
So I stayed an extra night. I woke up this morning and felt the past few days of te road. Anyways, tomorrow is the El Paso stretch. 120 miles from here to there. That's 30 more than I just did. I hear there is a store in Sierra Blanca which is 32 miles out. That will help.
I will be very close to thee border as well so say a prayer.
Have a gret night and I will check in with you later.
From Odessa I went to Monahans. Not much happened on that leg that I remember. Once I got to Monahans I grabbed a room for the night. Now, talk about destiny/divine intervention, a woman contacts me and says she and her husband live just north of there in New Mexico and he just found me and the page just hours before. Her name was Kim and Kim sausage wanted to come down and buy me dinner and resupply me as needed.
Well, Kim and husband Rance showed up with the kiddies and we went to a steakhouse and irate well. It was a great night and after a good sleep I got up ad hit it again.
The wind had/has been horrible all the way from at least midland area. It only seems to be getting worse as i get farther west.
In Pyote Texas or Just outside of it, I was alerted to an old bomber base that was still around but in shambles. I found it off the road and started to explore. If you are on FB then ou saw the 3 videos I made from the place. It was an interesting experience.
Next was Pecos Texas.
I did get a room in pecos by the walmart so I could resupply for the next stretch to van horn. According to legend, pecos was where the first rodeo took place and reeves county is one of the larger if not the largest county in Texas.
After pecos I moved out to my completely alone desert phase. No towns for 4 days. Let me say that this was the longest stretch that I haven't had anyone to talk to or a place to resupply. You may think you are lonely because you don't have a boyfriend or a wife or whatever... Or thy you don't have friends but let me tel you that you don't know lonely till you go thru that. I have never felt so alone and it drove me nuts in my head. You can only do the iPod or talk to yourself or sing loudly for so long before you get completely bored and frustrated.
One good thing that happened was a resupply from a deputy from the reeves county sheriffs dept. I was stopped by two deputies in pecos that were checking me out and one was a K9 deputy. Well, just before sundown and just before the I-10 merge I took stock of my water and realized I might be low or empty before I hit my van horn mark. I put the word out on FB for a resupply from anyone in the area. Kim from New Mexico again helps out by contacting the reeves court sheriffs dept and having someone come out with water. It happened to be te same K9 deputy that stopped me in pecos! He was a good guy and has lots of family in the service as well. Our law enforcement are just as important and should be thanked equally as our military. They certainly do a hard job and sometimes go with no thanks. Randomly thank an officer one day. Bet you will make their day.
So after the water run and the merge onto I-10, I made it to Van Horn. I was contacted by Donna in Utah just as I was about tree miles out of van horn. She said she and her husband steve follow me on FB and she wanted to get me a room for the night and a good meal. After working it out thru paypal and then checking in, I laid on the bed for an hour in just my draws with the AC on blast. Man that felt great.
There us a historic hotel here called the El Capitan. It has a bar/restaurant in it and that's where I had dinner last night. I met Lisa Marie and Trish who were working that night and had an excellent meal that was cooked by Chef Jay. The girls were great but I may have talked their ear off! They were sweethearts and I enjoyed my time there with them.
So I stayed an extra night. I woke up this morning and felt the past few days of te road. Anyways, tomorrow is the El Paso stretch. 120 miles from here to there. That's 30 more than I just did. I hear there is a store in Sierra Blanca which is 32 miles out. That will help.
I will be very close to thee border as well so say a prayer.
Have a gret night and I will check in with you later.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Odessa Tx
Diana here at the Holiday Inn at Hwy 191 in Odessa hooked me up with a room comp. She said it was inspiring what I was doing.... Some days I don't feel so inspired. Mari and Jerrika also work at the hotel and were equally interested. They are 3 sweet young ladies.
Yesterday was a rough one for the first half. I had slept in a cotton field te night before and a heavy lightening storm came thru followed by hard winds and rain. My poor tent woulda flown away if I hadn't been in it. So because of that storm I only got a few hours sleep so I was tired. I have also been fighting heavy head winds which make progress slow and cause me to work twice as hard with each step. Well, thank the Lord for every connection I have met cuz yesterday those connections came thru. I won't try to detail it out but the basic is this...... I spoke to a Gold Star mom yesterday. Gold Star Moms are named such once they have lost a child to war. Not a title anyone chooses that's for sure but certainly it holds a bit of honor amongst the military community. So her name was Lita and she had a friend who was driving west to a bike rally an said I should go. So, I get in touch with Melissa who is also a GS mom and she scoops me up in her Big Red Dodge Ram called "Beast" which is. Rolling tribute to her son RJ who was KIA in Iraq, 2006. So we go to this function which turns out to be the "Run To The Wall" ride which brings awareness to our vets and works to keep the soldiers honored as opposed to how the Vietnam vets were so horribly treated. Well, the ride was headig east and I was going west and Melissa was going to meet up withthem so it all worked out. I met soooooooo many amazing vets at the rally. I can't begin to explain the stories I heard and the history I came in contact with. What a true honor to e able to be in their prescence. There were over 140 bikes there and maybe twice as many people. I met too many parents that have lost a child. That was kinda tough to hear. After the rally and good food, we all rode over to the memorial wall and had a candle light vigil in remembrance of all te POW/MIA's out there. Again, it was so touching to hear tees vets get up an speak about how it was then and whatvthey went thru. I felt so insignificant when I compared my deployment with theirs. These vets are the true heroes.
I stayed with a local vet in midland last night. "Kojak" and his wife LeAnne put me up for the night. Great folks they are and great hosts.
This morning Darrell(Kojak) and I went over to the memorial again for the laying of the wreath ceremony an then I was allowed a short intro of what I was doing. Several spec ops guys came up and hugged me and I was really speechless. I felt dumb for a minute. I was so awestruck when I was talking that i forgot my usual well rehearsed rhetoric for a fumbling of words that I'm not sure was elegant. They seemed to get it though.
After this we all went to I-20 and waited for them to come by. Wild Bill iwas out there saluting them as they drove by. If you watch the YouTube videos I made you can see alot of the bikes and you will see us down on the road. After all that I headed west from midland to Odessa an found the holiday inn that is comping my room. When I hit the Odessa outskirts a marine Purple Heart recipient stopped me and told me his short story. We said a few words and he gave me a few dollars. I also have had several people stop mentoday and say sinkage nice things. After this past 5-6 days that have just pretty much been horrible... This has been a nice change.
I may stay another night here at te hotel just to get some relax time in. I'm about to hit the wide open spaces I her. After Odessa it's pretty much nada. Should be fun.
Everyone have a great weekend and don't forget to do your pushups!
Thank a vet!
specialops.org
firstgiving.com/jacobparrish1
Yesterday was a rough one for the first half. I had slept in a cotton field te night before and a heavy lightening storm came thru followed by hard winds and rain. My poor tent woulda flown away if I hadn't been in it. So because of that storm I only got a few hours sleep so I was tired. I have also been fighting heavy head winds which make progress slow and cause me to work twice as hard with each step. Well, thank the Lord for every connection I have met cuz yesterday those connections came thru. I won't try to detail it out but the basic is this...... I spoke to a Gold Star mom yesterday. Gold Star Moms are named such once they have lost a child to war. Not a title anyone chooses that's for sure but certainly it holds a bit of honor amongst the military community. So her name was Lita and she had a friend who was driving west to a bike rally an said I should go. So, I get in touch with Melissa who is also a GS mom and she scoops me up in her Big Red Dodge Ram called "Beast" which is. Rolling tribute to her son RJ who was KIA in Iraq, 2006. So we go to this function which turns out to be the "Run To The Wall" ride which brings awareness to our vets and works to keep the soldiers honored as opposed to how the Vietnam vets were so horribly treated. Well, the ride was headig east and I was going west and Melissa was going to meet up withthem so it all worked out. I met soooooooo many amazing vets at the rally. I can't begin to explain the stories I heard and the history I came in contact with. What a true honor to e able to be in their prescence. There were over 140 bikes there and maybe twice as many people. I met too many parents that have lost a child. That was kinda tough to hear. After the rally and good food, we all rode over to the memorial wall and had a candle light vigil in remembrance of all te POW/MIA's out there. Again, it was so touching to hear tees vets get up an speak about how it was then and whatvthey went thru. I felt so insignificant when I compared my deployment with theirs. These vets are the true heroes.
I stayed with a local vet in midland last night. "Kojak" and his wife LeAnne put me up for the night. Great folks they are and great hosts.
This morning Darrell(Kojak) and I went over to the memorial again for the laying of the wreath ceremony an then I was allowed a short intro of what I was doing. Several spec ops guys came up and hugged me and I was really speechless. I felt dumb for a minute. I was so awestruck when I was talking that i forgot my usual well rehearsed rhetoric for a fumbling of words that I'm not sure was elegant. They seemed to get it though.
After this we all went to I-20 and waited for them to come by. Wild Bill iwas out there saluting them as they drove by. If you watch the YouTube videos I made you can see alot of the bikes and you will see us down on the road. After all that I headed west from midland to Odessa an found the holiday inn that is comping my room. When I hit the Odessa outskirts a marine Purple Heart recipient stopped me and told me his short story. We said a few words and he gave me a few dollars. I also have had several people stop mentoday and say sinkage nice things. After this past 5-6 days that have just pretty much been horrible... This has been a nice change.
I may stay another night here at te hotel just to get some relax time in. I'm about to hit the wide open spaces I her. After Odessa it's pretty much nada. Should be fun.
Everyone have a great weekend and don't forget to do your pushups!
Thank a vet!
specialops.org
firstgiving.com/jacobparrish1
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