Riders chapter provides ‘last ride’ to member with terminal cancer

A 2010 American Legion Legacy Run stop hosted by Leo Carey Post 56 in Albert Lea, Minn., inspired Legionnaire Wes Halverson to start an American Legion Riders chapter four years later when he was serving as post commander.

He was joined in his effort by fellow Post 56 member and longtime friend Jim Hockinson, as well as another interested member. A chapter was formed, one that now can call close to 90 American Legion Family members as Legion Riders.

But after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, Hockinson can longer ride his motorcycle. That didn’t stop Chapter 56 from getting him out on a bike one more time.

On July 24, more than a dozen Chapter 56 Riders took part in a procession that included Hockinson riding on the back of Halverson’s motorcycle. The group picked up Hockinson at the Thorne Crest Senior Living Community, where he is under hospice care, and rode him around Fountain Lake.

“We talked, we laughed and we cried,” said Halverson, who serves as Chapter 56’s sergeant-at-arms. “It was so hard. It was a hard thing, but it was a happy thing. I asked him, ‘How are you doing?’ And he said, ‘Best day ever.’ He was so happy. He said, ‘I got my last ride. I finally got my last ride.’”

Halverson and Hockinson served together in the Minnesota National Guard for more than 20 years and became good friends. And they were instrumental in starting Chapter 56.

“When I started the American Legion Riders chapter in Albert Lea, I didn’t know anything about it,” said Halverson, who at the time didn’t even ride a motorcycle. “I was trying to figure out, ‘How do I get the members back’ – especially those veterans of the Vietnam War up to Gulf War and so on.

“I served in the military for almost 28 years, but I was never deployed. So, I could not communicate with those individuals that were deployed, that did combat service.”

He recalled the Legacy Run stop and started doing research on starting a chapter. “I had never ridden a bike. I had never had a (motorcycle) license,” he said. “So, I put the message out in our newsletter … that we were going to have a meeting. And Jim was the first guy that walked through the door.”

Halverson, Hockinson and another interested member – Arnold Anderson – worked for months promoting the program through local media. Now the chapter sits at around 90 members.

The chapter is very active, donating to various veteran-related organizations that include Quilts of Valor and Honor Flight. It has also bought the materials and then built a handicap-accessible ramp for a fellow Legionnaire’s home, and gives out challenge coins at Christmas to veterans and spouses of veterans living in assisted-living centers and retirement homes.

The idea to provide Hockinson with being on the back of a motorcycle again came from a group ride. “We are down riding motorcycles in Savannah, Ill., about 14 of us,” Halverson said. “While we were down there, we all got to talking about that we needed to do something for Jim. They’d given him a week to two weeks.

“I got back home, and I called another of our (charter) Riders (Dave Nelson) who was a good friend of Jim’s. He did a lot in all this.”

The pair both had the same idea: to give Hockinson a final ride on the back of a motorcycle. “I said, ‘What if I brought my trike, we put him on there and give him a ride on the trike,’” Halverson said. “I said that I would be honored if I could do that, because Jim and I had gone through so much together.”

The original date for the ride was rained out, but the second day, the weather was perfect. The ride received both broadcast and print media coverage and was “wonderful,” Halverson said.

“We just care so much about our chapter and our Riders,” Halverson said. “This is our family. What we did for Jim, I can’t explain how grateful I am to be able to do that for him. It was a wonderful thing to do for him. We did what we could for Jim.”