Photo By Staff Sgt. Patricia McMurphy | Retired Lt. Col. Doug Adams leads the way as he and Sgt. First Class Marquis Turner,...... read more read more
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FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - With more than 15,500 miles logged, and 48 states covered in over 300 days, retired Lt. Col. Douglas Adams and his wife, retired Col. Debra Lewis, continue their Duty, Honor, America Tour in the 49th state of their journey starting at Fort Wainwright making their way down to Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson, near Anchorage.
Adams said “[The tour was to] raise awareness throughout the country by cycling 50 states in one year for America’s veterans, military and their families. To make sure our country remembers that we still have [service members] that are still serving, sacrificing and have committed their lives to the defense of this nation on a daily basis.”
Adams and Lewis explain how the tour is their way of continuing to serve their country and how it is designed to educate and inspire Americans to pay attention to what really helps our veterans, military members and their families.
“Both my wife and I are veterans,” Adams said.
After retiring in 2000, Adams worked a lot with the Washington State Veterans Affairs.
“We saw what [veterans] were going through, and it was important that what they’re going through was something that we as a country did not forget about,” Adams said.
“The idea of cycling was a latecomer to the entire concept,” Adams said. “I had just got the bike in 2009, I hadn’t been riding, not a professional cyclist and two weeks later said ‘I need to cycle all 50 states for our veterans and military families.’”
“It’s really about serving, whether serving your country in uniform or serving your country in your community, that’s where the fulfillment comes from,” Adams said.
Adams and Lewis continue to serve their country by raising awareness for veterans and their needs via a cross country bike ride.
Adams said the military has a negative stigmatism about asking for help and because of this, many veterans, military and family members suffer needlessly and Adams wants to change that.
“It doesn’t mean that you are weak when you seek help,” Adams said. “And if [troops] are seeking help, it is incumbent upon us to have our arms open to them.”
“[During this tour] we have also found out that sometimes Americans don’t know how to help,” Adams said. “We have been able to say there are a variety of ways, often times it is just a matter of taking the time.”
We know that troops are busy,” Adams said. “So when we have the chance to at least say ‘thank you’, that’s not just from us, that’s from the folks we have had the chance to meet with.”
Nearly 20 children rode along side Adams from Fort Wainwright’s Youth Center to the main gate while six soldiers from Fort Wainwright and JBER will ride with him throughout his entire 6-day trek between the two military installations.
Among those riding from Fort Wainwright to JBER were Lt. Col. Marc Hoffmeister, the 6th Engineer Battalion commander; 2nd Lt. Daniel Frederick and 2nd Lt. Justin Smith from the 23rd Engineer Company, 6th Engineer Battalion; 1st Sgt. Kelly Smith, the Medical Activities Command- Alaska first sergeant; Lt. Col. Melissa Hoffman, the assistant deputy commander for Nursing with MEDDAC-Alaska; Sgt. 1st Class Marquis Turner from MEDDAC-Alaska; and Sgt. Michael Globoke, an unmanned aircraft systems repairer with the 5th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment.
It’s so much easier for me when I have company on the ride” Adams said. “This is going to be a terrific experience for me and hopefully they will enjoy it as well.”
Smith recalled how he had met Lewis at his graduation from West Point last year.
“[Lewis] was telling me about this tour at my graduation,” Smith said. “I just couldn’t believe how much they cared about soldiers and their families, to ride over 16,000 miles in order to promote [the tour] and try to build some awareness.”
“I just happened to get an e-mail from my battalion commander saying basically ‘the Duty, Honor America Tour is here in Alaska; does anyone want to ride?’ and I said I would definitely love to,” Smith said.
“Having talked to thousands of people, between my wife and I, we can say that this country is firmly behind our troops, is firmly behind our veterans, wants to make sure that they’re taken care of and that they know America cares for them,” Adams said.
“Anybody can help another individual,” Lewis said. “And usually when you help another individual… who benefits... Both benefit, and that is what we hope to accomplish here.”
At the conclusion of the tour, Adams will have cycled over 18,000 miles to honor and raise awareness for the veterans and military families of the United States military. Their message they repeat in every state and at every military installation along the way, “it is ok to ask for help, it is ok to offer help and it is what veterans really need.”
| Date Taken: | 08.04.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2011 21:20 |
| Story ID: | 75098 |
| Location: | FORT WAINWRIGHT, AK, US |
| Web Views: | 116 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Duty, Honor, America bikes across Alaska, by SSG Patricia McMurphy, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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