VetsRoll to depart Central Christian Church

BELOIT — Veterans and volunteers will depart Beloit Sunday morning for the 14th VetsRoll trip to Washington, D.C., but the starting and ending point of the trip will be a bit different this year.

VetsRoll will depart from Central Christian Church, 2460 Milwaukee Road, at 5:15 a.m. The caravan of buses and support vehicles, lead by motorcycles from the Fire & Iron Firefighters Motorcycle Club, will head east to Interstate 90 to begin the long ride to the nation’s capital. The VetsRoll caravan will return to Central Christian Church on Wednesday, May 21 at about 9:15 p.m., said VetsRoll co-founder Mark Finnegan.

VetsRoll normally uses the Eclipse Center as its point of departure and return, but another event was scheduled there this year. Several years ago, VetsRoll used Hononegah High School in Rockton as a return site when the Eclipse Center was undergoing some renovations.

About 220 veterans and 170 assistants will go on the trip this year, including one “Rosie the Riveter.” A Rosie is a woman who served on the home front during times of war in factories or in other capacities which filled essential needs at home.

Helen Putnam of Rockford is the Rosie who will be on this year’s VetsRoll trip. She will be accompanying her husband, Ray Putnam, who is a World War II veteran, Finnegan said.

Finnegan said he met the Putnams during a Pearl Harbor remembrance event hosted by VetsRoll at the Hard Rock Casino in Rockford last year. They were interested in the VetsRoll program and applied to go on this year’s trip.

Milwaukee Road has been lined with American flags provided by True Patriots Care.

VetsRoll has been providing free trips to Washington, D.C. to World War II veterans, as well as Korean War and Vietnam War veterans since 2010. The veterans have been able to view the war memorials as well as see the Arlington National Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Lincoln Memorial.The VetsRoll group also makes a stop in Dayton, Ohio at the U.S. Air Force Museum at Patterson Air Force Base on the way to Washington, D.C.