Report # 3 - Days 8 & 9 -- Almost Heaven

Day 8 - Corydon, IN to Hurricane, WV

Thank the Lord! Once again, another beautiful weather day. We left Corydon, IN and stopped at the VA Hospital in Louisville. It was good to see all the friends we've made over the years. However, we were saddened quite a bit because our special friend, Robley Rex (WWI Vet), had passed away about three weeks before we arrived. He was about 1 of 5 remaining vets from the war to end all wars. We visited some of the vets on the floors that weren't able to come outside and greet us. One of the HD dealerships had given us about 50 t-shirts to pass out to the vets, which we did as we visited the rooms.

From the VA hospital, we traveled to the Kentucky Vietnam Memorial. We heard from two WWII vets, one of which was a POW in Germany. He talked about his son who was shot down in Vietnam and the documented evidence that he's still alive today. He needs our support to help get his son home. Have everyone you know, write or email his/her Representative in Congress to sign on and support House Resolution 111 (H.RES.111 ). This bill will re-open the POW/MIA investigations in Southeast Asia and bring back the rest of our soldiers.

We then had our lunch stop in Mt. Sterling, KY. From there we traveled to Hurricane, WV for our overnight stop. We were greeted grandly by West Virginia with flags everywhere and people all along the parade route welcoming us home. Also, we had air support escort from a Vietnam era Huey helicopter. By the way, you're never too old to go on Run For The Wall. The mother, "Mom", in this photo with her son traveled "all the way" with us from California. She's 89 years young!

Day 9 - Hurricane, WV to Rainelle, WV

After a delay to the start of our day due to the interstate being shut down, we headed to the West Virginia State Capital, Charleston. We had a group photo with the Governor of West Virginia, as well as a proclamation, and a presentation ceremony at the West Virginia War Memorial. Several people commented about how impressed they were with the memorial. From Charleston, it was on to one of our most precious and treasured stops, Rainelle, WV.

Rainelle is special to RFTW because every single year the Run has always been welcomed home by the town of Rainelle and especially Rainelle Elementary. As RFTW crosses the country, we collect funds for the students at Rainelle Elementary to be used on items that are outside the school budget that directly benefit the students. Over the years, the RFTW donation has helped the students with the purchasing of library books, playground equipment, additional computers, Weekly Reader, etc.