Flag will have flown over graves and memorials in cemeteries under American Battle Monuments Commission’s care.
Family,
I am thrilled to announce that the National Flag Foundation and our allies in patriotism have accepted the American Legion Riders’ offer to personally escort the U.S. flag from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., next July 4 when our nation celebrates its 250th birthday.
This is no ordinary flag. The flag our Riders are entrusted to bring to the nation’s capital will have traveled the world – 26 countries in all – flying over the graves and memorials of U.S. heroes buried in cemeteries under the American Battle Monuments Commission’s care. The final leg of that international tour begins at the national headquarters of the National Flag Foundation in Pittsburgh.
I could not be prouder that our organization was chosen after I sent a letter to the foundation’s leadership in November offering our involvement. It will be a one-day ride, leaving about 6 a.m. for Washington D.C., where all eyes will be on America at this milestone moment in our history.
I have asked National American Legion Riders Advisory Committee Chairman David Heredia of Maryland to organize this sacred opportunity, called “Sojourn 250.” We envision 250 Legion Riders for this mission, which will follow a route yet to be finalized.
As chairman of The American Legion’s Task Force on the 250th Anniversary of America, I call on American Legion Family members to line the route – from a safe distance – and cheer from overpasses or other vantage points.
Meanwhile, I am positive that Legion Family communities throughout the nation will be doing as the America250 Commission suggests and conducting their own local events under the pathway called America Waves.
No organization on this planet is more perfectly qualified to bring the Stars and Stripes to Washington, D.C. for this historic moment. We are a lot of things in The American Legion, but we are unquestionably the nation’s leading ambassadors of the Colors of Our Country, colors we swore with our lives to defend, colors we salute every day, in communities big and small, in honor of all they symbolize.
Stay tuned. More details to come.
American Legion Past National Commander Daniel J. Seehafer
- Riders