Healing is focus of Denver-area biker couple's Run For The Wall

May 10, 7:46 PMMotorcycle ExaminerKen Bingenheimer

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Glenn and Cathy Buchholz. The yellow, red, and green striped decal is an enlargment of Glenn's Vietnam Campaign Medal

Motorcyclists across the country will be joining in for the 2009 Run For The Wall, which will cross the country along two different routes with the intent of reaching Washington, DC, for a Memorial Day POW/MIA remembrance demonstration.

Denver-area residents Glenn and Cathy Buchholz left today on their way to Rancho Cucamonga, CA, to ride this ride from start to finish. The group will leave Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday, taking the central route, which passes through Colorado on its way east on Saturday, May 16.

Glenn is a Vietnam veteran who served with the Navy in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Glenn describes purpose of the run as two-fold, healing and awareness. For many Vietnam vets, and even non-vets, visiting the Wall, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, is a cathartic and therapeutic event. The other aspect of the run focuses on the prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action from all the nation's conflicts who have yet to be accounted for. While there is little hope at this point of finding POWs still alive, Glenn and Cathy and the organizations they are aligned with are committed to pressing the government to continue to make all possible efforts to track down remains and other information that can finally give the families peace by dispelling the mystery of their loved ones' fate.

For Glenn and Cathy, devout Christians and members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, making this trip each year is about doing their part to help the healing of other riders.

"Our ministry is to offer healing and prayer in the biker community, and to the bikers on this run," says Glenn. On the 10-day trip across the country they become acquainted with other riders and identify those who may be wrestling with demons from their Nam days and who might welcome the support Glenn and Cathy offer.

Once at the Wall, they say, they will put an arm around or hug the vet overcome with emotion, or simply stand near in prayer, depending on what kind of support is desired.

"Even if we're not saying anything we're praying inside," Cathy says. "We are in prayer constantly to come alongside those who are hurting."

The riders leave Rancho Cucamonga on May 13, arriving in DC on May 21. Glenn and Cathy will be sending reports along the way and I'll be following them across the country in a series of posts.

Follow the ride:
Healing is focus of Denver-area biker couple's Run For The Wall
Run For The Wall rolls out of Rancho Cucamonga
Run For The Wall crosses through Colorado
Run For The Wall welcomed as they cross the country
Run For The Wall nearing its destination
Run For The Wall now in DC, will go to the Wall tomorrow
Emotional day ends Run For The Wall

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