0600/14 Oct 01 Gary Rivenson and Mike Burr

The rest at the Marriott was much needed. At this point I’d like to digress slightly. My friends had been trying to convince me to sleep since Boston. Organizing an event of this magnitude in one week has several pros and cons. One such con was that nearly all of the Top Team are New York based American Airlines pilots. In addition to planning the details of the entire event, these folks were also tasked with organizing the run from Boston to Maryland. This proved to be very stressful until we were able to turn over hourly management of the Flagrun to state coordinators. It also became difficult to deal with "down-line" state coordinators who were anxious for more details. I guess no one realized we were making this stuff up as we went along.

After testing the concept with several friends, I established a core group of dedicated pilots and military folks who would become the Flagrun Top Team. There is not one weak link on this team, myself excluded. Next, I gave a pitch at the New York Allied Pilots domicile meeting on October 4th. Our team began to grow with the addition of American Captains Gene Atwell and Captain Bill Lokes. This event would not have left Boston without the support and efforts of my Top Team. Once we had the website, compliments of Webmaster and American Captain Mark Hunnibell, we had some credibility. Captains Frank LaCorte and Gary Rivenson began to organize the route and state coordinators. Tom "Dago" D’Agostino (Dept. of Energy), Deb and "Mumbles" Schrader (UAL), and "Brain" Braun (UAL) are old Navy buds who have been aboard and very supportive since day one. I also want to thank my wife and children, who tolerated my mood swings during the week prior to the 11th. The tireless efforts of our Top Team between the 4th and the 11th made this event a reality. Runners/volunteers began to register in droves thanks to the email messages released by our New York Chief Pilots, Bob Shore, Jack Gleason, and Dan Cataneo.

Anyone that came up with a valid suggestion was immediately delegated to be in charge. Our organization blossomed overnight. The Top Team literally worked 20-22 hours daily from the 4th through the 11th of October. They have my eternal gratitude and utmost respect. I also owe them a boatload of beers.

2200/13 Oct 01 (Gary’s version... )

In Pennsylvania, just across the Delaware River bridge from Jersey, Assistant State Coordinator Mike Vanek, his family, and a small cadre of runners took over and headed into the dark night at about 10 pm. Joining the runners at that time... and for the next 13 ½ hours in fact, was AA Captain Bill Lokes, our Flag Run Sponsor guy... on his tandem bicycle. Also on this leg of the run was the other half of the sponsor team, AA Captain Gene Atwell. For the next 25 or so miles they had plenty of time to discuss strategies on getting corporations to come across and kick in some much needed support. Apparently it was late night conversation well spent as the sponsor team has done a remarkable job getting support for the run. The Philly city line was a McDonalds parking lot at 2 am. Gary Rivenson and Donna Stabile showed up hardly fresh from the New York run to lead the next segment through PA in AA Capt. Cliff Wilson’s old beat up ‘78 Chevy Suburban land cruiser and life support vehicle. We led the pace in this beast for hours and found out after the fact that the thing was leaking oil and the runners were choking from the exhaust smell. What troopers!... nobody complained... except Bill Lokes on his bike. Police escort was immediately dissipated due to an accident on the other side of town. Late night through some very... well... interesting neighborhoods made the runners finally stay close together. Gary made the command decision that if one person had to stop to pee... or something, we would ALL stop to pee... or something. As some bars let out at closing time we were cheered on by some, uh, ... let’s call them, working women. They jumped in and ran along with us!! They couldn’t keep up in high heels and were soon left behind. Another fine example of how EVERY aspect of American society is being touched by Patriotism. We made an intentional, and rather lengthy detour to go to Independence Mall and circle the Liberty Bell. This was at 4 am. Nobody knew we were there except us, the police, a bum or two, and one guy who seemed to be waiting for us who jumped out of his car with a big boom box playing God Bless America. We waved at the Liberty Bell and disappeared into the night and the Philly suburbs. Yeah... ok, we did have to play tourist for a moment and do the Rocky thing on the steps of the Philadelphia Library. "Yo Adrian". We somehow got behind schedule and had to make up some time with some big runners. Gary Rivenson led the runners and carried the flag up a MAJOR hill to meet the next group of runners. At the top of the hill were the local ABC news people. Gary pulled Donna Stabile in front of the cameras, and with bloodshot eyes, sweating, and panting they thought, "At least it’s just local TV and nobody I know will ever see it." The interview aired every 30 minutes the next day on CNN Headline News! Notable runners... AA Capt. Dave Piccone (Also interviewed on CNN while running) ran the entire 25 mile, all night segment, and Donna, who ran most of the night after running about 23 miles the day before in New York City. And of course, Bill Lokes, still pedaling along on his bike. (Now back to Mike... )

Back to the Marriott. Todd and I awoke to the good news that team NJ hit the Pennsylvania border on time. Awesome performance! We jumped in the RV, and proceeded to "haul the mail" to catch the Flag. The RV performed beautifully. This was the first time I had pushed the old girl over 5 mph. We joined the parade just south of Philly. Gary told us we needed to be at a mall parking lot by 7:30 AM for a live television interview. I was already tired of playing the media game, but would do anything "for the cause". I drove like an escaped convict and made the TV shot right on time. As I jumped into Biff the Anchor Man’s live shot, he replied, "Who are you? We don’t need you." This worked for me and I jumped back into the RV.

We met Gary and Donna Stabile and did a quick turnover in the parking lot. They handed us some home-made real food which we placed in the fridge in the RV. The food lasted about one day before we had to toss it out. The fridge door spends too much time being opened by runners retrieving water. Todd and I caught up to the Pennsylvania team somewhere north of West Grove. The team was being headed by John Taylor, a former Marine F-4 aviator. John had been on the team all of two days. We didn’t have adequate time to brief the NJ or PA coordinators on how to execute our plan. Besides, we were still making things up daily. John took the bull by the horns and executed flawlessly... until we got there.

We also found Bill Lokes, still pedaling, on his tandem cycle. He was delirious and had been riding non-stop for nearly 14 hours. His wife and children were following in their van. Bear in mind that Bill had been getting little to no sleep for the preceding week. He and Captain Gene Atwell had been tirelessly chasing corporate sponsors and working on tee shirt production. Additionally, Bill drove our first batch of shirts and banners all the way to Bean Town on the evening of the 10th. I urged Bill to go home and get some rest before he became our first casualty. He stopped just shy of the Maryland border to appease me and his family. He had the determination to ride all the way to L.A. Great job, Bill.

The runners had been running on a bypass highway. They were making excellent progress and were only about fourteen miles from the MD border. Their "six o’clock" position was being protected by volunteer firemen and women. I had the great pleasure of meeting S. "Red" Flegal, President of the West Grove, PA Fire Company. This gentleman would prove to be a gold mine in the near future. Red informed me that the local folks were all waiting for the Flag runners on Old Route 1 which was only a few miles east of the bypass. This, combined with my desire to run through small town America, was all I needed to encourage John to move the run to Old Route 1. This would prove to be my first intelligent decision since departing Boston.

The young lady carrying the Flag was visiting her parents in this rural part of Pennsylvania. She was from the D.C. area and attacked the Pennsylvania hills with intensity. Todd and I ran with her out of sympathy. This was stupid idea number 217. The hills were no challenge for this young girl, but were really taking a toll on this old, chubby body of mine. Todd seemed to handle the hills fine... of course he’s a young lad himself. This Pennsylvania farm country was absolutely beautiful. The occasional smell of manure brought back fond memories of growing up on a dairy farm.

The diversion to Old route 1 afforded us the chance to meet some great folks. Our next runner was a recently furloughed (laid off) American pilot. He was being followed and encouraged by his wife, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephews. Their minivan had a sign on the back which read, "PILOT NEEDS WORK". Cute but sadly true. This gent ran with an intensity that far exceeded any of our abilities. I truly felt for him and his family, particularly when Red informed me they had just purchased a new house. I assured him we would do our best at American to bring him back as soon as possible. We both realized the recall date was a big question mark and depends on the American publics’ return to the air. Mom taught me early on the power of positive thinking. We’ll get him back to work soon. Do you hear me Mr. Carty?

Red and another gent arranged for Todd and I to have a great home town meal down the road a piece. The gentleman even paid for us... free food... a perk I hadn’t considered. I liked this concept, so much for losing weight. This was my second real meal since the 9th. We were joined by our fellow (furloughed) pilot and his family. They gave us a $100 donation... incredible! We thoroughly enjoyed Red’s company and learned he was well connected. He volunteers at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. in his "spare" time. He epitomizes the courage and valor of many of our Vietnam vets. These guys were treated like dirt by the American public upon returning from war. Hopefully America is waking up and will give these men and women the credit long overdue. By the time we finished lunch, Red had already brainstormed several ideas to generate enthusiasm for Old Glory. He would spam the word to Park service personnel first thing Monday morning. He had several good ideas and we used every one of his leads.

The remainder of the Pennsylvania run was executed flawlessly by John Taylor and Team Pennsylvania. We crossed the Maryland border precisely on time with Green Beret theme song blaring from AA pilot Bob Miller’s boom box. "Fighting soldiers from the sky, Fearless men who jump and die... ".

I’ll close with a borrowed quote from Red Flegal, Veteran, Patriot, new friend. The author of this quote is Ellen Worrell, wife of deceased Philadelphia firefighter Harry Worrell, and mother of Paul Worrell. Paul was a Naval Aviator who was shot down in Vietnam in 1968. His remains were among those first five warriors returned in small wooden boxes in 1985. Ellen and Harry were active with the National League of Families, the tireless POW-MIA folks.

"For those who fought for it, Freedom has a flavor... The Protected will never know." Well said Red.

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