For some, the best way to honor veterans is with the wind in their hair and the roar of their bike below them. Sunday was the 15th annual Vet's Christmas Charity Ride in Columbia, South Carolina, and it was by all accounts the biggest ever recorded.
According to The State, more than 7,000 riders showed up – at least 1,000 more than attended last year – ready and willing to share the holiday spirit with veterans at the Dorn VA Medical Center.
Army veteran Jim Wertman founded the event in 2000 with the help of Earl Smalls Jr. and Gene Royer.
"It was really sad to see these vets in the hospital," said Royer. "Some of them don't have family, some of them don't have Christmas. So we decided to start a Christmas ride. It's been getting bigger and bigger every year."
Many of the charity riders are veterans who have committed to giving back in their life after service. They were joined by military vehicles from the Vietnam era as they journeyed from Northeast Richland to the VA hospital in Lower Richland. Their arrival was met with waving flags. Shortly after, they distributed enough presents to fill an entire room.
The gifts sought most by Vet's Christmas Charity Ride – which ended up coming in from all over South Carolina – included clothing, winter gear, backpacks, hats, gift cards and radios, according to WLTX 19.
Gene Royer's brother, a Vietnam veteran, told The State that "It's important to me to give back to the veterans, that the veterans don't get treated the way we got treated when we got back from Vietnam. I'll be doing this until the day before I die, to make sure that new veterans and old veterans never get treated that way again."