Day 6, RFTW 2010 – Louisiana and Mississippi

A beautiful day in eastern Louisiana and western Mississippi – only 221 miles today – oh, did I say it was over 100 degrees and HUMID! Started the day with the statement of a recruiter in the 1706, The same heat that stirs them up to love, spurs them on to battle. I led the prayer for our youth to have a greater love for this great country – for the nation as a whole to have a greater love and if we did, we would stand up for her with a greater passion. It was met with great enthusiasm and amen.

Off to a ceremony with the mayor of Monroe, LA and then down the road to Jackson, MS. As we traveled into Jackson and right after we left, IPH churches had banners on two different overpasses thanking the vets for the “church”.

Once we arrived at the Harley Davidson dealership in Jackson, it was four hours of being spell bound by the grandeur of the turnout. The war heroes, Code Talkers, Prisoners of War, Congressional Medal Honorees, the Governor of Mississippi, etc. were there to be honored by RFTW. It is always a very moving experience to be in Jackson. They had helicopters flying over, the Calvary from Ft. Hood was there with their horses to entertain us and then there was the Trail of Honor. I will write more on this tomorrow night – I had a special time with a great friend of mine there.

I was standing by the bikes when a young man came up to me with Kevin McBride. This young man, second year of college, and I had a special moment in January 2009. I left Amarillo in eight degree weather, rode 720 miles and about 10:30 at night all my lights went off the bike and the motor died. I knew there was a guard rail but could not see it. God sent a car just in time for me to stop before hitting it. A young man could see me having difficulty and turned around and came and put his flashers on to keep me from being hit. This same young man was in Jackson today, seen all the bikes and turned in wondering if he could find that ‘guy on the bike that was stranded’. As God would have it, we connected and spent several hours together.

I also was greeted by Bill and Diane Carlisle, folks I met the first year on RFTW. He had been dismissed from the hospital and came straight to the lunch in 2006. He suffers from “Agent Orange” which comes up like a pimple on his body and then eats a hole in the flesh. It is very painful. Bill has been sober now for several years and always has a gift for me, one year he gave me his Army pen and asked me to wear it for him where ever I go. We had some special time together in all the craziness of the day.

Then we got on our bikes and headed to Meridian, MS for dinner. About 25 miles from our destination the traffic came to a stop. I was told there was a bike down, so Ether (a Doctor riding by me) and I took off around the shoulder on the interstate. When we arrived two bikes were down and one of our chase vehicles was already on the scene. One man was okay but the other broke both the bones in his lower right leg, fractured his shoulder and punctured a lung. It was 10:30 before I got to my room from the hospital, writing reports and eating. I am just glad it is things that can be fixed – the man is a Christian so we had two good prayers together.

Carolyn and Greg headed back home after doing so many interviews and capturing so many great pictures. We will miss them but very thankful they came.

Tim Gray called earlier today and found that his wife was not feeling so well. Later the school called and said they were trying to reach her but no answer on either of her phones. Tim came and Robbie and I joined in prayer that he would hear from her soon. It was less than an hour and he came stating, ‘intercessory prayer works, Shay called and she is fine.’.

We are so blessed to see what God is doing on RFTW 2010 for Mission:M25. I went to eat a meal alone and write my reports but ran into some of the riders and friends. It was so great to be accepted and appreciated. They even paid for my meal. One of them is a speaker for PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). He told me that there were over two million men and women in the Viet Nam war, only 800,000 are alive. The top two killers are the stuff like Agent Orange and the other is suicide. He stated that some predictions state that all of them will be gone by 2015 – that is not far off. The deal with the soldier today is that after three deployment that they cannot re-assimilate into society. There are 38 attempted suicides by these soldiers every day. Now, I have not researched these facts, just assume he is accurate. Now you see why we are out here! Please keep praying for us – these men and women need and DESERVE your prayers. God bless all of you.

***—UPDATED—***