Legion Riders receive huge reception at a place dedicated to remembering and honoring nation’s POWs and MIAs/
Two weeks ago, a small group of American Legion Riders from various chapters in the Department of Florida’s Fifth District were hanging out together on a Sunday afternoon. The topic of conversation: how to welcome The American Legion Legacy Run as it arrived in Jacksonville, Fla., on Day 4 of the ride.
Fast forward to Wednesday, where more than 60 American Legion Family members from the Fifth District and beyond were on hand to greet the ride at the National POW/MIA Memorial & Museum in Jacksonville. Flags waving, music blaring and engines roaring were among the ways the hosts greeted the Riders as they pulled into the memorial’s parking lot.
“We all put our heads together and reached out to the right people … within 24 hours we had the whole thing set up,” said Rick Oliver, one of the organizers of the reception and the road captain for ALR Chapter 129 in Jacksonville. “We started promoting it after that (on Facebook) and reached out to all the other chapters just to get as many bikes here as possible … to support these guys.”
Oliver said the Legacy Run’s cause “is amazing. To have these guys coming from (Virginia), we just felt it’s the right thing to do: to show up and support them for the long journey they’ve had.”
Miguel Garcia, Florida’s Fifth District commander, was on hand to greet the ride. He said being able to honor the ride participants was “a great honor. This was put on pretty quick, actually. (The district’s Legion Riders) put this together in the matter of a couple of weeks.”
Garcia said it was special for the district to have the Riders stop at the POW/MIA Memorial. “For us, this memorial means a lot to us,” he said. “It’s a representation of … our POWs, our MIAs. The fact of the matter is a lot of times we give them lip service, but we don’t honor them the way that we should. Our district is really big into the POW/MIA. It’s a passion. This place is important to us. It’s part of who we are.”
Also awaiting the ride were American Legion National Commander James LaCoursiere Jr. and American Legion Auxiliary National President Trish Ward. Those two were part of a wreath laying at the memorial.
“The worst thing for a veteran is to be forgotten, and for their story never to be told,” American Legion Riders National Chairman Mark Clark said during the ceremony. “It is museums like this that keep their stories alive. That remind the American people that sacrifice – even sacrifice that cannot be present to be recognized – is worthy of our attention and honor. That’s why a ceremony like this matter.”
“The Ultimate Exposure.” The ride’s first stop of the day was for lunch at Bryant Commons Park in Hinesville, Ga. American Legion Post 168 in Hinesville teamed with the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce to provide a lunch of pulled pork, baked beans and potato salad.
It also provided Post 168’s American Legion Riders chapter a big publicity boost. The six-week-old chapter found itself in the midst of an event that included coverage from CBS affiliate WTOC out of Savannah.
“This is an absolute, top-of-the-line opportunity for us,” said Chapter 168 Assistant Director Donald Borte. “We’re so stoked for it. It’s the ultimate exposure. Everybody’s riding with the (Riders) patch.”
Borte said the decision to start a Riders chapter was “the same reason I joined the Legion eight years ago. I was missing something. I’d been out of the military for 30 years. There was something missing, and it was the camaraderie: the people who have gone through the same things I’ve gone through. That’s what it’s about.”
Liberty County Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Leah Poole said that Hinesville is a military community, and it made sense to provide a stop for the Legacy Run.
“Liberty County is home to Fort Stewart, the largest military installation east of the Mississippi,” she said. “We have a lot of pride in military service. We appreciate all the people who have served in our armed forces. That was the leading factor right there. We like to say, ‘thank you’ to people who’ve served.”
Also on hand was Hinesville Mayor Karl Riles. “When we found out we had the opportunity to host (the Legacy Run), we definitely wanted to be at the forefront of that,” he said. “We have a really good Legion group here. They work really hard in our community. They’re at every single thing that we do, so it’s only right that we support them.”
Follow the 2025 Legacy Run on social media using the hashtag #LegacyRun2025 on Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn.
- Riders