American Legion Riders Visit the Key City

VICKSBURG, Miss. – A brigade of approximately 300 American Legion Riders stopped briefly into Vicksburg this morning. The group is traveling across the nation to raise awareness and money for advocacy for families of veterans and those affected. The group has raised over $313,000 thus far.

The American Legion Riders awarded the Vicksburg Police Department with a certificate, and Mayor Flaggs and Alderman Monsour returned the honor with a certificate from the city.

While the group’s stay in Vicksburg was brief, some of the riders took a guided tour led by Vicksburg National Military Park certified tour guide: Rick Martin. Others, took the three hours to fuel up, grab a bite to eat, and venture out into the city on their own.

“The people in Vicksburg are so welcoming when we came to talk to them. Anytime a community displays that type of hospitality, it’s worthy of our time to come and see it,” Mark Clark, National Chairman of the American Legion Riders, “but more importantly, the history here, our American Legion Riders that ride this ride come from all over the country, they spend their vacation dollars and take their vacation days to come and be a part of this ride. So, I always try to find something unique in every day for them to have a chance to go see. Because it brings awareness to what we’re doing, but it also brings awareness to the cities that we visit. I felt like with the National Military Park here and the Murals on the river wall, with the history of this city in the formation of our nation, I feel like our values aligned here.”

According to Clark, the group accounts for bus schedules and other logistics when planning a trip through a city.

“We never want to be that group that disrupts the normal life of the citizens of the communities that we come into. We try to be conscious of the fact that we don’t want to disrupt commerce, we don’t want to interfere with bus schedules for schools,” he said.

Clark said he would have liked to take the entire group through the military park, but was concerned of not only the narrowness of the roads, but was aware that such a large group would impede others during their visit of the park.

“We never want to be a nuisance to the community. We know that other people are trying to enjoy the battlefield, and we didn’t want to go through there and make a mess for the other people,” said Clark.

The group’s next stop is Camp Shelby for an overnight, and then the group will make it’s way to New Orleans.