IBA Rides on Service Branch Birthdays

outdoorsntn

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#1
I'm planning on riding rides on each of our service branch birthdays ... to honor each branch (National Guard, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, Space Force). USMC's birthday is coming up 10 Nov followed immediately by Veteran's Day which would be a great opportunity for a SS2000. Based on reading the forum and since from what I believe there are no themed Branch Service Birthday rides, I would need to include in my ride certification application verbiage that I rode my ride on the "Marine Corps" birthday, followed by riding the next day on Veteran's Day and ask that that be mentioned in my certificate? Is this correct?

Maybe...Maybe consider once completing a certified ride on all branch services birthdays, a Commander-In-Chief certificate (if appropriate) be awarded similar to completing the Four Seasons rides. Just a thought.

Doug Vance
Cordova TN
 

Ira

Staff member
Premier Member
IBA Member
IBR Finisher
IBR Staff
#2
With regard to wording on your cert, yes, we will work with you if you want the ride to recognize the event. Just include a note with the ride submittal with the proposed wording.

I would imagine we could work the C-I-C wording into the certificate that completes the series.

Ira Agins
Iron Butt Association
 

outdoorsntn

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#3
Thank Ira and the IBA for considering this request. Among US Marine Corps sites in Tennessee, my planned 1059 mile United States Marine Birthday In-State ride include USMC memorial and monument visits at:
  • Sgt. Walter K. Singleton, USMC, memorial marker and ride Singleton Parkway, Bartlett, TN. Sgt Singleton was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism during combat in Vietnam. Sgt Singleton is from Bartlett TN and a memorial marker recognizing Sgt Singleton’s heroism is in Bartlett’s Veterans Memorial Park. Singleton Parkway which runs from northeast Memphis to the south gate (The Singleton Gate) of Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington are both named in his honor.
  • Gen. Clifton Bledsoe Cates, USMC, historical marker in Tiptonville TN. General Cates is from Cates Landing (Tiptonville) TN. Gen. Cates served in multiple combat operations in WWI and WWII. As a Colonel, he led the First Marine Regiment, First Marine Division on Guadalcanal and as a Major General he commanded the Forth Marine Division during the conquest of Tinian and Iwo Jima in 1944. 1948-1952 he served as the 19th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
  • Lt. James Simmons Timothy, USMC, historical marker in Nashville's Centennial Park. “Lt. Timothy was the first Tennessee officer to make the supreme sacrifice in the Great War for justice and humanity.” He was killed in action at Belleau Wood, France, June 14th 1918.
  • Capt. Jeff Kuss, USMC, memorial in Smyrna TN. “On June 2, 2016, our nation was deeply impacted by the tragic in-flight accident of United States Marine Corps Captain Jeff Kuss while flying as Blue Angel #6 in practice for the Great Tennessee Airshow, in Smyrna, Tennessee.”
  • US Marine Corps Monument, Chattanooga, TN. In honor of US Marine Corps Members, past, present, and future. The memorial is in the Memorial Circle of Honor at Chattanooga National Cemetery in Chattanooga TN.
  • Fallen Five Memorial, Chattanooga, TN. “This sculpture honors Sgt. Carson A. Holmquist, USMC, Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan, USMC, Staff Sgt. David A. Wyatt, USMC, Lance Cpl. Squire K. "Skip" Well, USMC, and Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall J. Smith, USN” killed in a terrorist attack that occurred on 16 July, 2015 in Chattanooga, TN.
  • USMC War Dog Memorial, UT College of Veterinary Medicine Knoxville, TN. “25 Marine War Dogs gave their lives liberating Guam in 1944. They served as sentries, messengers, scouts, they explored caves, detected mines and booby traps. This memorial is given in their memory and on behalf of the surviving men of the Marine War Dog platoons who owe their lives to the bravery and sacrifice of these gallant animals.”
  • Sgt Elbert L. Kinser, USMC, historic marker, Greeneville, TN. Sgt Kinser was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against Japanese forces on Okinawa. Sgt Kinser is from Greeneville TN. Kinser Park just south of Greeneville is named in his honor.
 

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outdoorsntn

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#6
You are welcome Mark and congrats on your ride. My USMC Birthday ride certificate recently arrived. I gotta say, it's one of those special rides for me. The "light" came on on Florida's Turnpike around 0100 on the last leg of a BBG last month ... "hey, how about rides on the birthdays of each of our branches of service" and the IBA considered it and took it onboard! And hey, the Services Birthdays are on the new IBA wall calendar I just read. For all: The Tennessee USMC research alone for this ride was rewarding and if you set up a Branch of Service ride similar to this ride or like Mark's ride, I'm sure it will be just as rewarding research for you and honoring USMC family or friends, as it was for us and ... we had two 1st-time riders with us (one is a 100% DAV) who are eagerly awaiting their new IBA numbers and certificates. An above post provides background on our stops. One of our riders brought along a USMC yard flag we put in each of our pictures at each stop (a picture attached). U. S. Space Force 1st Birthday is next in line, 20 December 2020.
  • *Of note regarding our last USMC historical marker/site on this ride: On July 4, 1946, MajGen Clifton B. Cates, (honored at our 2nd stop) presented Sgt Kinser’s Medal Of Honor to Sgt Kinser’s parents in Greeneville TN.
 

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outdoorsntn

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#12
The U. S. Armed Service Birthday Rides series is official; rules are now on the Big List. The ride series is designed for the rider to create a some-what self guided tour, seeking out service related stops on the birthday for the Armed Forces Branch they are commemorating. Wide latitude for types of stops are provided in the rules.

Departing from Memphis, I look forward to riding this route Saturday, 18 September, commemorating the seventy-forth birthday of our U. S. Air Force:
- Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville AR. So close to Memphis… I just have not been there before.
- Blytheville AR. Former Eaker Air Force Base, AKA: Blytheville Air Force Base, and now the Arkansas Aeroplex, honoring air pioneer and commander of the Mighty Eighth Air Force during World War II, Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker. The base’s runway, which stretches 11,600 feet, is the largest runway available for public use in the state.
- Falls of Rough KY. Historical marker, the site of mid-air collision in 1959 during refueling of a USAF KC-135 and B-52 with nuclear weapons board "Broken Arrow". Lest we forget the lives lost!
- Horse Cave KY. Historical marker, Lt Charles Moran USAF, shot down a lead plane of first invading flight of the Korean War, June 27, 1950. Four of enemy's nine fighter planes destroyed. Lt. Moran was killed in action 40 days later, Aug. 7, 1950.
- Hillsboro TN. Historical marker, “Hap” Arnold, General of the Air Force, pioneer airman, taught by the Wright Brother, namesake for Arnold AFB, Hillsboro TN.
- South Pittsburg TN. Historical marker, Capt James T. Fitz-Gerald, USAF, WWII combat pilot and prisoner of war, test pilot, 2nd to break the sound barrier in February 1948 (behind Chuck Yeager), died September 1948 in plane crash.

1160miles, 20 hours.

For me, there is much to appreciate in this ride series and I hope you find the same.

"Standing on the shoulders of giants."

Not sure where the phrase originated but reality of the fact occurs daily.

Doug Vance
Cordova, TN