The Battle for Indianapolis

We were met on the outskirts of Indianapolis by two mounted police and a police car. The police told us that they were escorting us to the park in the center of town where arrangements had been made to receive us at a war memorial. Veterans groups from the towns we had passed through had called ahead and made arrangements with the media and officials. A time had been set up for our arrival at the war memorial. The police had told us that we were running a little late so we picked up the pace to get there on time.We arrived at the memorial on schedule, but the place was deserted. Not a soul from the media, nor public officials. My greatest fears were now realized. In this strong veterans city a media blackout had been planned. We and the two mounted police sat on our horses for almost an hour and waited. It was becoming apparent that the word had been put out the the newspapers, radio and TV stations, not to cover the story. In every major city so far we had been met with full media coverage. Indianapolis I knew, with its nation veterans headquarters, was a key point in raise the issue. I had a talk with the policemen and told them how strange it was that in a strong veterans oriented town no media attended the press conference. They agreed and didn't understand what was go on and why the media didn't show up. I told them of my past experience, on the first ride to Washington with media blackouts. Both of the police officers were also veterans and in total support of our effort. I asked where the largest newspaper in town was located. They told me it was just across the way, opposite the park. I said I had a plan and asked for their help. I told them that if the four of us rode over to the newspaper and sat on our horses, on the sidewalk, at their front door it might get the newspaper's attention. The policemen were more than a little upset that the paper was trying to bury these missing soldiers and agreed to the plan. This was going to be a chess game, move and counter move. I wasn't worry, after all what was the paper going to do, call the police.The four of us sat on horseback at the paper's front door for less then ten minutes, when a reporter came flying out of the floor with a note pad in her hand. She looked up at us on our horse and said, "Gee whats going on?" I started to explain that we were riding across American for the POWs. She was already familiar with the story from the coverage on the wire services. I explained how a press conference had been arranged at the war memorial and how strange it was that for the first time in the hundreds of miles we had traveled so far, the media didn't show up. She tried to rationalize the situation by saying it must have been a mix up from the assignment editor. I looked at her and asked if she thought that that same mix up had happened to every other paper and every other radio and TV station. She thought about for a minute and her eyes went wide when she realized that it was impossible. She finally said, I guarantee you it will be in the paper. I called her three days later and she told me that her phone hadn't stopped rings from people trying to contact us. Another noticeably absentee were any officials from the national headquarters of the America Legion. All hope of enlisting their support now died. We were one third of the way across America, we were far off schedule, and winter would be upon us in a few months. Again, all seem lost. Was this going to be the end? It was one thing to across the country in the spring and summer, in a heavily populated part of the country. What lay ahead of us was a thinning population and open country and what we didn't know at this time was that we would be riding into one of the most sever winter on record. The prospect of being found frozen to death wasn't very appealing. We lingered in Indianapolis for a long time trying to come up with a solution. A V.F.W. post (Veterans of Foreign Wars), had invited us to their post that night. We rode out and tied the horses to a tree in their yard. Word must have gotten out that we were broken. They were having a dinner that night, it felt good to eat. After the dinner, they went around selling scratch ticket. One of the man, sitting with us, bought one and asked me to pick one out. I told him I didn't gamble and was not very lucky. He insisted so I picked one and won twenty-five dollars. He bought another one and had me pick it. I said save your money the chances of winning again were not never good. He insisted again and again won twenty-five dollars. I was amazed at my luck. A third time the same thing, I was starting to get a little suspious by this time as to the the honesty of their raffle. The results of the fourth card was the same. We thanks everyone for their help and when outside to ride back to where we were staying. As we got closer to the horses (it was dark) something seem wrong. My horse was standing their with no saddle. Barry's horse had its saddle loosen. It seem that someone was in desperate need of two saddles. Or was it something else? We'll never know. I rode bareback that night.Have you ever sat back and thought about the truly great people you've met in your life. These people were not great for the funding they so slyly gave us, but for their warm and generosity and their welcoming nature. If you don't yet know what make America great, its the people. I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to meet so many good people in this country. These are the people you never hear about, who go about their business and do no harm, but do good. Sure we have a lot of obnoxious idiots here, but they are far outnumbered by the good people of this country.