Just got back from a VetsRoll trip. Most of you will have no idea what this is, so I will tell you about it. VetsRoll is an organization in Beloit Wisconsin that puts together an annual trip from Beloit to Washington DC. This year included vets from the 1940s to 1969. This would include those of Vietnam experience. My wife had been after me for years to sign up for this. I kept turning her down. This year my daughter was on my case, and I finally signed up. I found that being over 85 automatically qualified me.
I had to attend a meeting the week before the trip to find out what I needed to take and other things.I was totally shocked to find that I was told to bring no money unless I wanted to buy souvenirs. All expenses would be taken care of. On top of that I found out there is no government or tax money involved. It is all from private contributions.
The trip is four days and has ten busloads of veterans and volunteers. the volunteers are medical, general knowledge and strength. I found them to be among the finest people I have ever met. I use a walker, but for this trip they called and ask if I would be offended to be pushed in a wheelchair. Having been to DC before and knowing the walking distances involve I quickly agreed. We were instructed that no politics are to be discussed on the trip. There were no problems with this. My mind was spinning at the thought of the logistics involved with over 400 people traveling as a caravan, eating together and staying at the same hotels. Unbelievably it went smooth as silk.
We left Beloit with a lot of fanfare a motorcycle escort, two chase vehicles, and a spare empty bus. Our first stop was in Lafayette Indiana for a breakfast of biscuits and sausage gravy. It was a big hit as it is a favorite among most of us.
Our next stop was the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. What a display. After several hours of touring around the facility we were treated to a catered dinner in the museum. It was a magnificent New York strip steak dinner with all the trimmings. We then spent the night in the local Marriott Hotel. They served us a great breakfast and got us out of there in about an hour.
Our next stop was at a restaurant called Cefalos in Carnagie Pennsylvania. Driving in, they had let all the kids out of school, and they were lining the streets waving to us. It was a most impressive site. We Vets just couldn’t believe we were being welcomed like that. The lunch was incredibly good. We left and drove to the Marriot in Washington DC. They served us a pork filet dinner like I had never had before. After a good night’s sleep, we had an excellent breakfast with bacon and eggs and potatoes.
Tuesday was spent visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Lincoln Memorial, The World War 2 Memorial, the Korean Wall, and the Vietnam Wall. These exhibits hit a lot of us very hard. But we had come to see these for closure in our lives, and my observation was that it was very successful.
That night we were treated to another steak dinner at the Marriott which was as fine a meal as i have had at many restaurants. We hit the sack, because reveille was at 3:45 AM so we could have another great breakfast and get on the road to home.
Our next stop was Progress Field in Cleveland where the Cleveland Guardians play. They had a buffet lunch set up for us that was magnificent. We ate our fill and walked around the park taking pictures. Then back on the bus where we played games and won prizes and just had fun with the volunteers. Our next stop was for driver changes and to pick up a box supper. I forgot to mention that it rained the entire return trip, but we had our motorcycle escort all the way back to Beloit. Also one of the buses was leaking water in, so the spare bus was used to shift that load of vets over to it.
We pulled into Beloit at 9:30 PM to a crowd of thousands and fireworks and flag waving. We were given a dismissal talk in the assembly hall and released to go to our homes. I can’t remember being more exhausted.
This was one of the most impacting experiences in my life. Anyone who has the opportunity to go on this should never pass it up. I still am amazed at how they pull it off.
In addition, each vet was given a big envelope for mail call. It contained letters, notes and pictures from kids in the area schools and other organizations. Mine even contained: A letter from my son Dan, one from my daughter in law Tracy, one from my daughter Julie, one from my daughter Stacey, one from my granddaughter Becky, and one from my niece Jill. Reading all those letters and notes was overpowering.
Jim Page
It was indeed a once in a Lifetime trip for the Veterans. To see them talking to each other and having their fellow Veterans backs at the Memorials, meant indeed they had Closure. Thank you Bill for such a fantastic review. I am glad you finally made the trip with us. Thank you again for the help at the Marine Memorial, I could not have done that without you. Until our next talk, keep up the great work.