by Pappy
This is important and I hope all of you will read this and have your children read it and become involved.
You all know how I feel about our Troops and Veterans as I have written so often about. This is about “VETERAN AWARENESS” and a couple of our Veterans who want to make a difference to our Vets.
Jeremy Staat and his friend and fellow Veteran Wesley Barrientos from Bakersfield CA are the stars of this event. Jeremy was a NFL pro football player (remember Pat Tillman of the Arizona Cardinals?) and when he left Pro football he enlisted in the U.S. Marines and served in Afghanistan. Wesley lost both of his legs while serving in the U.S.Army. There is a “Wall of Valor” in Bakersfield which honors those from the local area who have fallen in combat.
Jeremy and Wesley felt the young people did not really know what it means to them and to understand what these men and women that serve our country and assure our Freedom go through and the importance of their service. To this end, both of these brave Veterans have put together a mission to BICYCLE from the Wall of Honor in Bakersfield to the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial wall in Washington D.C. 4,162 miles in 100 days. Wesley will spin a hand cycle. Their route will take them through 15 states with stops in 62 towns and nine Military Bases. They hope to close that gap between military generations, raise awareness of veterans’ issues – especially the high suicide rate – honor those who have served. Anyone is welcome to ride with them and they will have several support vehicles. The ride will begin on February 19th and is called, “The Wall-To-Wall Bicycle Ride. There will be SIX stops in Arizona and one of those will be HEBER/OVERGAARD ON MARCH 10TH!!! That’s right, right here in our community. The Chamber of Commerce here will work with the Overgaard American Legion Post 86 and will host these two great Americans and I hope we, Heber/Overgaard, will show up and give them a Rim Country welcome and thank them for their service and help for our Veterans. PLEASE!! Show up. Watch for more about this event and MARK your calendars NOW! Flyers will be posted throughout the community and you can contact myself through the Chamber or the Chamber Office.
Go to their web site at jeremystaatfoundation.com for more info.
