SAN BENITO — Johnny Montemayor remembers chopping through the jungles of Vietnam about 40 years ago.
These days, cutting through the American heartland on his Harley with fellow Vietnam War veterans is much better.
A U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran, Montemayor and his hometown friend Tony Mendoza, also a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran, trekked around the United States together to participate in the “Run for the Wall” annual bike ride to the U.S. Capital.
“It was a great trip, but it was to honor the soldiers that never came back,” Montemayor said. “It was very rewarding to us to pay homage to those soldiers.”
The two revved up their Harleys and rode from San Benito to California together to rendezvous with more than 300 riders to take the 10-day trip to Washington, D.C. — all in an effort to honor Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery.
During the journey across the U.S., they made stops at memorials, veterans hospitals and schools. They participated in parades and “Welcome Home” receptions provided by host cities.
“People all across the country were so beautiful and friendly,” Montemyor said. “Complete strangers came up to me and thanked me for my service.”
Montemayor served 12 months in Vietnam as an engineer cutting jungle and turning the areas into base camps and landing zones during the war.
“We got hit many of times,” Montemyor said. “It was scary, but thank God we made it back.”
Montemayor said he realized quickly the Vietnam War wasn’t a game when rocket blasts lit up the sky and he felt the aftershock of earth shaking.
He experienced a flashback of Vietnam in West Virginia when a Huey helicopter was flying low with the motorcycle group to escort them to their next stop. It was just like the ones in the war covering soldiers from being attacked.
Montemayor said communities between California and Washington, D.C., were waiting for them to pass through their towns to thank them for their service.
He said every community provided them food, gifts and gas along the way.
They rode about 400 miles a day, sometimes stretching the route to 600 miles.
The ride totaled more than 5,000 miles round trip for the San Benito veterans.
Run for the Wall was started in 1989 by James Gregory and Bill Evans. They are Vietnam veterans who traveled across America on motorcycles to raise awareness about the thousands of men and women who are still unaccounted for from all wars.
It was a first Run for the Wall for Montemayor as he participated in the 28th annual ride across America making stops along the way.
He said he never would have done it had it not been for his friend, Mendoza, who had made the ride across America twice before.
“We went through rain, cold and there were accidents along the way,” Montemayor said. “It was a long ride but it was a healing ride.”
