Dallas

North Texas Honors Medal Of Honor Recipients with Motorcade

It has become an annual tradition. Hundreds of veterans and first responders escorted a group of 19 Medal of Honor recipients to Gainesville on Wednesday, as hundreds of other people lined the route with patriotic signs and flags.

Gainesville is hosting a parade for the Medal of Honor recipients this weekend.

This year 32 law enforcement agencies and 16 fire departments from North Texas assisted in honoring and escorting the award winners.

The motorcade also included more than 300 motorcyclists from the Patriot Guard, Christian Motorcycle Association, and the Blue Knights.

“I couldn’t do military because of medical reasons but I am able to take and use the abilities that I have now to bring these recipients into the area, and bring them in in the fashion in which they deserve,” said Denton County Constable Douglas King, one of the organizers.

Gary Wetzel, a Medal of Honor recipient, led everyone on motorcycles.

“The rarity is to be alive to wear that Medal of Honor. And I tell people at times when I have to wear that blue ribbon around my neck. I wear it for everybody, so I’m just a caretaker, just a soldier doing a job,” said Wetzel.

The motorcade honors the living heroes from World War II through Afghanistan, and along the way, North Texans showed support on bridges and overpasses.

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