Hundreds of motorcycles will roll out of Lincoln Sunday morning as the American Legion Riders begin the 20th Annual National Legacy Ride. About 240 motorcycles are expected to take part in the five-day, roughly 1,000-mile journey from Lincoln to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where the American Legion will hold its national convention.
National Chairman David Heredia tells KLIN News the ride raises money for the American Legion’s Veterans and Children Foundation. “Our goal is $25 million to provide assistance for veterans and their children in times of crisis, and also to provide training for our veteran service officers.”
The Legacy Run previously supported the American Legion Legacy Fund, which provided scholarships to children of veterans and Gold Star families. Riders helped raise $20 million for that effort before the mission shifted to the Veterans and Children Foundation three years ago.
Heredia tells KLIN News how he decided to start the ride in Lincoln. “I picked Lincoln, Nebraska by fluke. I was looking on a map. I did a 1,000-mile radius, and I found an American Legion post, which happened to be the department headquarters for Nebraska.”
The riders are partnering with the American Legion Department of Nebraska, Frontier Harley-Davidson and the Nebraska National Guard to launch this year’s ride. The motorcycles will leave Frontier Harley-Davidson at 7:30 Sunday morning. Riders will first stop at the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum in Ashland to honor members of the U.S. Air Force and lay a wreath.
The group will then travel to Gretna American Legion Post 216 for lunch before continuing into Iowa. Stops during the five-day journey include Gold Star Hall, the Illinois Veterans Home and communities in Iowa, Indiana and Illinois before the ride concludes at Fort Knox.
Heredia says the large group can stretch several miles on the highway. “We can get up to four to five miles long when we stagger our formation. But when we come into towns, we tend to tighten our formations up to about a mile and a half to two miles so we can get in and out with the minimal disruption.”
Law enforcement agencies and volunteer road guards will help manage traffic and protect the riders along the route. Heredia says the response from communities along the ride is often one of the highlights.
“When they realize that we’re a veterans organization supporting our veterans, the pride comes out. The American flag started waving. Folks line up on the street.” Heredia says the ride is about more than raising money. “We ride for a cause. And we can uplift the spirits of our communities by showing the pride that we have.”
This year’s ride also marks the 250th anniversary of American independence.
(Photo: American Legion Riders Facebook)