The Wall In Wyoming

Freedom isn't free! That is why the bikers of Northeastern Wyoming have banded together to bring the American Veterans Traveling Tribute to Gillette, Wyoming September 7, 2010.

A caravan of motorcycles, and a few cages, will bring the tribute to the Camplex Park in Gillette on the 7th of September, which will be followed by a big feed for all participants. The tribute will remain in Gillette as the primary focus of a five-day-long homage to our countries finest.

The credit for bringing such an incredible event to our community goes to a group called the Gillette Riders Organization. The G.R.O formed in 2009, and consists of several organizations in the area. They include: A.B.A.T.E., B.A.C.A., the Gold Wing Riders, the U.M.F., the W.B.A., and the Windriders (American Legion). Each group has a primary mission to aid people in their community while enjoying their favorite pastime, riding with their buddies.

The American Veterans Traveling Tribute is a "true depiction of the great sacrifices made throughout the history of our country", according to the AVTT website, www.avtt.org. It features an 80% replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (the "Wall") in Washington DC that stretches over 380 ft long from end to end and contains all 58,253 names.

This, however, is just a small part of the tribute. A few of the other exhibits include statistics from every war and conflict that the USA has been involved in, a series of World War II panels, a Korean War tribute, a display of art from Vietnam veteran artists depicting patriotic and veteran themes, and a 9/11 tribute with the names of all 2984 casualties organized by where they were located at the time of death.

"We are honored to have the tribute on the 9th anniversary of 9/11." GRO member Geno Salazar said. "We plan to make it an extraordinary day of events in order to pay tribute not only our veterans, but to all the brave Americans who saved lives or lost their lives on that horrific day."

The GRO is planning several events for each day the tribute wall is in Gillette, and hope to involve as much of the community as possible.

For updates on tribute plans, please visit the GRO website at www.gro2010.org.