{"id":2424,"date":"2019-03-16T19:02:55","date_gmt":"2019-03-16T19:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.specialoperations.org\/soa\/?page_id=2424"},"modified":"2026-07-19T07:54:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T11:54:39","slug":"soa-riders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/specialoperations.org\/soa\/soa-riders\/","title":{"rendered":"SOA Riders"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Special Operations Association Riders was founded in 2009 by SOA Members Doyle Creed and Larry Trimble under the authority of the SOA Board of Directors to promote camaraderie and honor the MIA\/KIA from all Special Operations Units, MACVSOG and elements in direct support of that operation.<\/span><\/p>

We gather annually, in different parts of the country, in a formal ceremony of remembrance, to honor our Brothers who remain missing.<\/span><\/p>

Membership is free; however, you must be a member in good standing with the Special Operations Association.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>

C<\/span>ontact the Chairman <\/span>Marcus Whitt II
SOA RIDERS
marcuswhitt@specialoperations.org<\/a><\/p>

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\u00a0<\/h4>

APPLY\u00a0FOR MEMBERSHIP<\/h4>

Visit our <\/span>Facebook p<\/span>age, Special Operations Association Riders, for further information, photos and schedule.<\/span><\/p>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAPPLY FOR MEMBERSHIP<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t
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SOA Riders 2026 Ride<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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On June 9, 2026, the SOA Riders met for the 16th year (inaugural ride was in 2010; 2020 & 2022 were cancelled due to COVID). Our mission continues to remain the same: raise funds for the SOA Bright Light Fund and remember the 131 Vietnam SOG and support personnel still unaccounted for.<\/strong><\/p>

Our host this year was member John Welgos that took our normally 3 1\/2 day ride to 4 1\/2 days and what memorable days those were.\u00a0 We were headquartered in the Crown Plaza Edison in Edison, NJ. Those members and their significant others (total 22) included Marcus & Pam Whitt, Mike & Carol McGowan, Tom & Sherry Collier, Mel Wick, Stacy Buscetto & Ken Sandoe , Linn Wiebalck, Terry & Liz Curry, Swede Ashton, George Skillen, Ron & Donna Owens, Bob Strange & Nancy Blair, Nip Piers, John & Karen Welgos and Tom Cunningham.<\/strong><\/p>

Most members arrived at the Crown Plaza on June 9.\u00a0 That evening, our Host John Welgos had arranged for a presentation by the Edison Police Department\u2019s SWAT Team of which John had been a member of.\u00a0 They also brought numerous pieces of equipment which was on display.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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LtoR: Mel Wick, Marcus Whitt, John Welgos, Chief Tom Bryan, Lt. Chris Teleposky, SGT Mike Kohut, SGT Mike Michalski<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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On June 10 the Riders, escorted by the Edison Police Department, headed to a day of range shooting, 4 wheeling and visiting with members of SFA Chapter 19. They also provided breakfast and lunch.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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SFA Chapter 19 and SOA Riders<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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On June 11, the group headed to where Washington crossed the Delaware and the Princeton Battle Ground.\u00a0 John Welgos had arranged for Park Rangers to provide us with the history of each of these places along with the loading and firing of a Revolutionary War Musket.<\/strong><\/p>

On June 12 the group split up with some going to West Point Museum and some touring the NJ 9\/11 Monument and then taking a boat ride by the Statue of Liberty.\u00a0 The evening ended with our SOA Rider Silent Auction and Raffle.\u00a0 The group raised almost $2,800 for the Bright Light Fund.\u00a0 John Welgos was awarded the James \u201cWoody\u201d Woodbury Host Award for his outstanding contribution to the Riders for this year’s ride.\u00a0 Next years Ride with be hosted by Mel Wick in the Fort Bragg, NC area.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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John receiving the Woody Woodbury Host award.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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On June 13, the Riders held their ceremony to recognize the 131 SOG men and support men that are still unaccounted for.\u00a0 The ceremony was held at the NJ Vietnam Memorial and Museum outdoor pavilion.\u00a0 John had arranged for a bag piper to play Amazing Grace and a bugler to play TAPS.\u00a0 It was a very moving ceremony, as always.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Front Row: Tom Collier, Marcus Whitt, Terry Curry. Second Row: Mike McGowan, Stacy Buscetto, Mel Wick, Tom Cunningham, Bob Strange, Swede Ashton Back Row: Nip Pires, George Skillen, John Welgos, Linn Wiebalck, Ron Owens<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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SOAR Sisters: Pam Whitt, Donna Owens, Sherry Collier, Liz Curry, Carol McCowan and Nancy Blair. They all participated in the Unaccounted For Ceremony.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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On June 14, several of the Riders were able to go into New York City and visit the 9\/11 Museum and the Horse Soldier Memorial.\u00a0 Bob Strange, Marcus Whitt, Linn Wiebalck and Terry Curry toasted the men that were representative of the Horse Soldier Memorial.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Horse Soldier Memorial.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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On a light note, there were a number of Chinese in our hotel.\u00a0 They had come to the area to attend the World Cup Soccer Match.\u00a0 These three Chinese were fascinated with my Harley Trike and Tom Cunningham\u2019s Can Am motorcycle.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Chinese Visitors<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Special Operations Association Riders was founded in 2009 by SOA Members Doyle Creed and Larry Trimble under the authority of the SOA Board of Directors to promote camaraderie and honor the MIA\/KIA from all Special Operations Units, MACVSOG and elements in direct support of that operation. We gather annually, in different parts of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1070,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2424","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialoperations.org\/soa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialoperations.org\/soa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialoperations.org\/soa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialoperations.org\/soa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1070"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialoperations.org\/soa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2424"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/specialoperations.org\/soa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47040,"href":"https:\/\/specialoperations.org\/soa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2424\/revisions\/47040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialoperations.org\/soa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}