Ken Rhodes, the Vietnam veteran who was riding a bicycle across the country — including Route 66 — to raise money for Iraq War veterans and muscular dystrophy, finishes his trek today, according to the Victorville (Calif.) Daily Press.
On his 70th birthday, Rhodes is cycling the final 10 miles to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. His daughter and granddaughter will be waiting for him.
One particularly memorable experience came in Virginia:
At a Veterans’ Administration hospital in Roanoke, Va., Rhodes taught a class to newly arrived Iraq War veterans on how to handle post-traumatic stress disorder.
Having suffered from PTSD himself, Rhodes passed on what he had learned during treatment in San Diego.
“At first they were like, here we go again, but then they opened up because I could talk the same language,” he said. “I spoke for almost an hour to them.”
The veterans gave him a standing ovation.
“Now I got to figure out how to get back,” he said.
Yeah, right. How ’bout a bike ride to get outta Iraq.