Diann Perkins plans to lead a platoon of bikers across the country on her Honda Valkyrie motorcycle from Los Angeles to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. This will be Perkins’ fourth year to join the Run for the Wall. This will be her first year to be one of six platoon leaders leading groups of 70 to 80 bikers.

The ride
>> At 8 a.m. Saturday, more than 200 motorcyclists are expected to roll around Loop 40 at the Midland International Airport to make a stop at the Permian Basin Vietnam Memorial.
>> The riders are part of the Run for the Wall, a countrywide motorcycle ride to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.

12-day motorcycle ride to Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., way to remember fallen comrades

By Geoff Folsom
Photo by Cindeka Nealy
Special to the Odessa American

Diann Perkins says she was so moved by the story of veterans participating in the Run for the Wall, she plans to ride her motorcycle across the country this year to support the event.
Perkins, 52, is one of a number of Odessa residents who is participating in the Run’s Southern Route, a 12-day motorcycle ride from Ontario, Calif., to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C.
After three years of joining the Run as it passed through Odessa, she will take the entire journey starting Wednesday.
“The camaraderie is just wonderful,” Perkins said. “It is like a big, big family. The bond between the men just grows stronger and stronger.”
Perkins initially participated in the Run for the Wall by welcoming riders, many of whom are Vietnam veterans. The event is designed to bring attention to prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action, particularly the 1,807 unaccounted troops in Vietnam.
Perkins looks forward to riding the whole way, primarily because it gives her more of a chance to assist the veterans.
“Just getting to help any way I can by lending a shoulder or lending an ear,” she said. “That’s kind of my mission to them.”
Along the way, the riders will lay wreaths at a number of memorials. They will also pay visits to schools and Veterans’ Administration hospitals.
Seeing veterans in wheelchairs lined up outside the hospitals are Perkins’ favorite part of the ride.
“They know we are coming,” she said. “Everyone is excited, I assure you.”
Perkins will have the spotlight on her Saturday. That is when the Run for the Wall rolls into Odessa for a one-night stopover.
This year, she has to handle dual duties. She is also the ride’s central Texas coordinator, which puts her in charge of all activities between Pecos and Weatherford.
“It’s been pretty stressful,” she said. “It just depends on delegating people to take care of items when I’m gone.”
The riders are hoping for a big welcome when they pull into Midessa Motorcycles, Perkins said. They plan to lay wreaths at the Permian Basin veteran’s memorial, as well a memorial in Big Spring and one under construction in Colorado City.
Not everyone involved in the Run will be riding. Vic Silvester will prepare two meals for the estimated 225 riders who will come through Odessa.
Silvester, 62, spends three months planning the meals. Along with other volunteers, the Vietnam veteran plans to spend all day May 19 preparing a rib dinner on several barbecue pits.
After the riders go to sleep, the volunteers go to work preparing breakfast.
For Silvester, the president of the Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm Association, all the work is worth it when he sees how the veterans respond.
“Seeing these guys line up and salute their brothers at the Permian Basin wall. Seeing them say ‘Thank you’ and ride off and carry our message to Washington.”
Even though he does not ride motorcycles himself, Sylvester said he still finds it important to support veteran’s causes.
“I’m a veteran,” he said. “Somebody’s got to honor other veteran brothers and sisters who gave their lives.
“Until you’ve been in a situation where your life has been on the line, you don’t know what that person thinks,” he said.
Don “9-Ball” Morris, the coordinator of the Run for the Wall’s Southern Route, said volunteers like Sylvester help give the riders a welcome they never got when the returned from Vietnam.
“It’s kind of a welcome home all the way across the country,” Morris said. “Every stop means so much to us because it makes us feel that they are doing everything they can to make us feel special going into their town.”
The Southern Route was added in 2001 after the original Central Route became too crowded. After 60 riders took the Southern Route the first year, Morris said that up to 500 could come along in 2006.
Odessa is among Morris’s favorite stops along the route.
“It’s one of the first places where we get to go to a memorial,” he said. “It means a lot to the guys, because the hospitality there is incredible.”
Perkins said that welcoming new riders is one of her favorite parts of the trip. She has advice for the newcomers.
“Just come with an open heart and don’t try to hide your emotions,” she said. “Come ready to get some healing.”
Nothing on the trip compares to actually reaching the wall in Washington, she said.
“You’re hesitant to walk up to it, because you know what it signifies,” Perkins said. “The men, they know so many names.
“It’s an emotional time for anybody, but especially for them,” she said.