‘More than a tradition’: Local organizations, bikers honor vets at Southern Nevada cemetery
![]A veteran salutes as taps are played during a special forces ceremony in honor of Memorial Day ...](https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/20500643_web1_SPECIAL-FORCES-MAY25-25-MC-07.jpg)
Memorial Day is not just a day off from work, former Green Beret Harold Wheeler emphasized during a ceremony Sunday in Boulder City.
Wheeler, president of Las Vegas Chapter 51 of the Special Forces Association, led a crowd of more than a hundred people as they recognized those who made the “ultimate sacrifice,” giving their lives in the service of their country.
“As veterans, it is up to us to instill why this day is celebrated and emphasize that it is time to show reverence for the human losses of war,” Wheeler said Sunday morning. “For those of you who have served, we humbly thank you for your service. For anyone who has lost a family member or friend, we thank you for their sacrifice.”
Before Wheeler began his speech, which introduced one of several Memorial Day ceremonies — this one highlighting the U.S. Special Forces — at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, a procession of motorcycles circled the pavilion. American flags swung from the backs of many.
One military motorcycle club represented at the event, the Viet Nam Vets Legacy Vets, continued its 31-year-long tradition of riding into the event from Hoover Dam. The group’s Fly Your Flags run was created to show respect for and appreciation of all veterans.
Cedric “Arrow” Daniels, president of the Nevada-based club, said during the ceremony that the bikers rode to remember those who “gave everything so that we could live free.” He said this year marks the 50th since the end of the Vietnam War.
“Let this run be more than a tradition,” Daniels said. “Let it be a promise that we’ll never forget, not now, not ever. To the ones who didn’t make it home, this ride was for you. This flag is for you, and this brotherhood continues because of you. … To our country, we bled for you, and we’ll do it again.”
Chapter 51 and the VNVLV motorcycle club also placed remembrance wreaths in the pavilion alongside large headstones and pavers featuring the names of other local veteran organizations and their fallen members.
As they positioned the wreaths around the cemetery’s fountain, “The Ballad of the Green Berets” wafted from a speaker.
‘Makes me cry’
When the event concluded, Sharon Rheault of Las Vegas stood near the grave of her brother, Walter Robinson, who served in the Navy.
Rheault’s husband, Tommy, crouched just slightly before her, using a spade to dig a space for flowers above Robinson’s plaque.
“The ceremony always makes me cry. I love to see the motorcycles,” Rheault said, sniffling. “It makes me feel good to remember him like this.”
As she scanned the field filled with miniature American flags, each representing a veteran buried there, she whispered, “There are so many … so, so many.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
