Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
For many individuals, Memorial Day weekend is about the first weekend the pool is open, BBQ's and an extra day off to spend time with family & friends. But it is important for us all to remember that Memorial Day is much more than that. Memorial Day is a holiday designed to commemorate the U.S. Men and women who died in military service for their country. These brave souls paid the ultimate price so that we could have our freedom. This is a sacrifice we will not ever forget.
This Memorial Day weekend I'd like to bring some attention to two veterans on an astounding journey to raise awareness.
The Wall To Wall Cross Country Bicycle Ride.
These gentlemen are riding bicycles from the Wall of Valor in Bakersfield, CA to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. about 4,263 miles. ON BIKES! And one of them is a double-amputee. I first read an article about Jeremy Staat & Wesley Barrientos, both veterans of the Iraq war, in January 2012. This statistic quoted in the article really got my attention:
" The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that a veteran dies by suicide every 80 minutes. That’s an annual death toll of about 6,500 — more than all the U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan since those conflicts began."
(Read the full article here)
Wow. These men and women go to war, they witness things that many of us couldn't even dream about surviving. Yet they come home and lose hope. How can this be? More importantly, how can we help? I've been keeping an eye on the progress of this ride to raise awareness through social media updates, because their journey is frankly pretty astounding. Wesley & Jeremy arrive in Washington D.C. this weekend, and we can go and cheer them on!
If you think these guys are as awesome as I do, you can Follow them on Facebook
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