"Roll On" - A Tribute Ride Honoring Sgt. Harry Watson

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Part IV (or Part III or Part II &copy

I really had intended on concluding the tribute part of my ride and therefore my report thereof at the War Correspondents Memorial in Maryland. After all, Maryland was the last "new" state through which I would ride -- Several days in Pennsylvania then returning home through Ohio and Indiana. I figured that once at the Rally, it would be mostly about CB1100s and enjoying the Pennsylvania countryside. The only Harry-related stop I wanted to make was at the Pennsylvania Military Museum on the grounds of which is located a "memory wall" listing the names of all soldiers from the 28th who were killed in action (KIA) or died of wounds (DOW) during WWII. A photo of Harry's name on that wall would be a great gift for my mom and a keepsake for myself.

During the research phase of this trip, in the 2019-20 winter, I had contacted the 28th Infantry and corresponded with a Sgt. Damian Smith, the command historian. Sgt. Smith was very excited about my trip and suggested a few points of interest that I might want to visit. He even suggested a route across PA on US322 - "The 28th Infantry Division Highway". He was the one that informed me of the existence of the Pennsylvania Military Museum and the memorial there. His last email to me asked me to send additional information about Harry as he could find no such person in his database. I sent that information on 2/7/2020 and never heard back from him. I found out much later that the pandemic changes some of his job duties during the spring and that he was attending various education and training events during the summer and fall. His inability to find any record of Harry has been troubling me ever since he mentioned it. I know for certain that Harry served in the 28th Infantry Division/112th Infantry Regiment and that made me wonder why the Army couldn't confirm that fairly easily. I hoped that Harry's name was on the memory wall not only to honor him, but if his name was there, then I could provide that information to Sgt. Smith (or someone else at the 28th) so they could update their records.

It turned out that there were more than a few Rally-goers who had been following along with me from Chicago. When I mentioned that I wanted to visit the museum and maybe another Tour of Honor stop in the area at some point during the week, I got a few people that were interested in tagging along. InHouseBob, activedirt and suhawk305 were available to head to the Tour of Honor site. The A-Man and SCCBrider expressed an interest in visiting the museum, although I suspect that its proximity to Penn State University, A-Man's alma mater entered into the equation for both of them.

On the Wednesday of the Rally, KiowaHawk had planned a fairly long day of riding; longer, at least, than I had really wanted to undertake that day. Seemed like a good day visit the Tour of Honor site in Renovo, PA. which as it turns out, is the epicenter of some of the best riding in the state (more on that in in another report). InhouseBob, activedirt, and suhawk decided to join me on this 120 mile loop that included the stop at the TOH site and, of course, lunch. The larger group had picked a place in Lock Haven called Hangar 9 and since our bunch would be heading through Lock Haven, we wound up eating at the same place only an hour or so earlier.

The best part of this ride was a narrow, winding, and wooded road that connects PA44 with PA120. The roadbed could use a re-do, but Hyner Mountain Road was a delightful stretch of road that lead us on the last leg of our outbound trip. 120 deposited us at the memorial.


The now infamous and always amazing PA144 runs through Renovo. There are reports and photos elsewhere in this forum.


activedirt on Hyner Mountain Road




Not 100% sure if this guardrail increases or decreases my odds of surviving a crash in that direction. (Hyner Mountain Road)


This is how the Tour of Honor officials want us to document a visit to a site. Flag number prominently displayed in the foreground with a clearly identifiable image of the memorial in the background.


What you see when you get off your bike and approach the Tour of Honor sites. I think that many participants take a quick qualifying picture and move on. I also know that others to take some time at each memorial they visit. If you decide to do the Tour of Honor, take some time to explore the memorial sites; you won't regret it.




A great lunch. Food was terrific. We discussed favorite songs to listen to when we ride. I think it was activedirt that offered up "Last Date" by Floyd Cramer. It does not fit the stereotypical image of a biker song, that's for sure. I was listening to an equally ambient piece most of the week, "Chase the Clouds Away" by Chuck Mangione. I cannot recall InhouseBob's or suhawk's pick (unless suhawk was "Last Date"). Maybe they can reply with their choices. Oh and the Rally shirts were and are awesome!

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Forecast was for rain during the afternoon on Thursday so the larger group decided on an off-bike activity; rafting, I think, but I wasn't paying much attention. I had decided to head to the Pennsylvania Military Museum that day and A-Man and SCCBrider were on board with that so off we went. A pretty route, but mostly flat and straight. We hit rain about 20 miles from our destination, but it didn't last long and we had wisely geared up upon seeing the ominous clouds ahead.

The museum grounds were awe inspiring. We couldn't go inside, of course, but we really didn't need to. I have to thank both A-Man and SCCBrider for their interest in my story or, I guess, that of my uncle. They helped me locate the wall I was looking for and took photos. They scoured the list of names to find Harry's, but alas, his name does not appear anywhere on the wall, not even in another regiment's list. I think they were more disappointed than I was not to find it. For me, not finding his name on the list leads me to believe that the list to which Sgt. Smith referred was the same list furnished to the museum when the wall was built. To me, this omission is a mystery to be solved in order to properly honor my uncle, and quite probably many other soldiers of the 28th, who perished in WWII and who became lost in the fog of time.




A-Man with the Nittany Lion


SCCBrider


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I left for home early on Saturday, September 12th. It was a chilly start to my 660 mile ride, but it was sunny. I returned on I-80 through most of Pennsylvania. After gassing up near the town of Brookville, I 322, for several miles just to be away from 80 mph(ish) speeds for a bit. Remember US322? The 28th Division Highway? That Sgt. Smith mentioned in his February email? Well, I didn't. I had forgot completely about this road and never included it in any of my plans. I only recall it now because I wanted to re-read those emails for this report. I'm disappointed about this since 322 runs roughly parallel to I-80 though the western part of the state. I could have easily taken it for the first several hours of my ride home. As it turns out, though, I accidentally was on the 28th Division Highway not only from Brookville to Corsica (about 8 miles), but A-Man, SCCBrider, and I rode it for like 1,000 feet while making our way back to Williamsport from State College. All the same, I wish I had include it in my route home.

After entering Ohio, I hopped on OH303 which I would take to US20 and then US6. This is basically a straight line across Ohio and Indiana and while slower, it does avoid Cleveland and it's just a more comfortable route for me than I-80. I have no choice to be on 80 once I get closer to Illinois and prefer delaying that for as long as possible.


Geared up like this....


Shortly after seeing this.


Detour on US6 in Indiana. Detours at the end of a 600 mile ride with darkness looming and rain starting are my least favorite in the genre.

The US 6 detour put me on some back roads. I did not want to be stuck on Indiana back roads in the dark, in the rain, and in the cold. Frankly, I feel much safer on the interstates in those conditions so I plotted a route back to I-80 entering it somewhere near LaPort, IN which is about 95 miles from my garage.

Lucky for me the rain stopped shortly after reaching the highway and just as the setting sun dropped below the cloud line escorting me about half of the remaining way home. I arrived home at twilight and in a twilight. It was quite a week. The first days with so much emotion and history. The others with the joy of motorcycles, great roads, and wonderful people with whom to share them.

My winter project is solve the mystery of the death of a soldier.

Thanks for tagging along.