Earlier this year, several motorcycle riders – members of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Combat Veterans – got together over lunch to take a tour of a collection of army machines that harkened back to their years of service and the memories made.
The collection itself is purportedly owned by the Village Church of Santa Clarita – an establishment run by pastors Paul Veluzat and Andre Veluzat, who hosted the lunch tour for the vets.
Paul Veluzat and Andre Veluzat took the group through a viewing of the vehicles, many of which, according to Signals CV, were also donated for use during cinematic hits such as the show ‘M*A*S*H’ and the movie ‘Valkyrie.’
“When we came home, we were met with riots, demonstrations, and repulsion,” a Navy SEAL courtesy of the Vietnam War, Morgan, said about returning home from the chaos.
“A lot of us have physical and emotional injuries from the battles we fought. This is a form of therapy to get together and have some time.”
“I got to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 during the first six or seven months there,” contributes Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, the featured guest speaker.
“[that included] doing bad things, to bad guys who were trying to hurt our good guys on the ground as the Marines and Army soldiers marched north out of Kuwait into Baghdad and Tikrit…”
To these veterans, viewing the examples of history made and making light of time in the service is a way to maintain sanity, to process the days, months, years spent serving the country, as well as show respect for fellow comrades, whether retired or otherwise.
The loneliness can also be a problem, and seeing as a purported 7% of the adult population are vets, having someone to talk to can literally save a life.
“It’s a very small group, so it can get lonely out there, and personally, I have no family members that ever served in the military,” says Kevin Duxbury, a current Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s deputy and chapter 3310 commander of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association (CVMA).
“I’m the only one, so I can’t even talk at home about it, but when I get together with these guys, I’ve got all kinds of people to talk to, and sometimes we don’t even need to talk.”
“A lot of what we do (CVMA) is poker runs, rides, or charity events to raise money to help support veterans,” Duxbury continues.
“It’s a really great organization that’s out there helping other vets, but at the same time, that also means helping each other.”
Our hats off to the men and women of our country that sacrifice so much to keep our land free. Stay tuned for June, when the local chapter plans to do a motorcycle ride to raise donations, check out CVMA’s webpage to learn more on how to contribute, and as ever – stay safe on the twisties.
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