June 9, 2020 10:20 a.m.
The family of Air Force Staff Sergeant Rory Berg, who reside in Roseburg, has accepted the honor of lighting this year’s Fallen Soldiers Memorial Flame to officially open the 11th annual Tribute to Fallen Soldiers Memorial Torch Motorcycle Ride, next month.
The lighting is scheduled for Sunday July 12th and officially signifies the opening of a 22-day, 4,000-mile cross country motorcycle ride. The event will go from Eugene to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. and is done each year to pay tribute to America’s fallen service members.
The ride will go through 14 states and will honor nearly 70 fallen service members from all branches of the military. The event will culminate on Sunday August 2nd when the Fallen Soldiers Memorial Flame is escorted into Arlington National Cemetery, where the flame is formally extinguished in memory of those honored during this summer’s ride, along with the more than 400,000 service members who currently lay at rest at Arlington.
Each summer when it comes time to light the Memorial Flame, a Gold Star family from the State of Oregon is given the honor of lighting the flame to not only recognize their individual fallen hero, but to also honor all those along the cross-country journey. This year that honor is given to Raeann Rutledge Garrett, mother of Air Force Staff Sergeant Rory Berg, who died April 18th, 2011 while serving the nation as an airman in the United States Air Force.
Berg was born in Roseburg to parents Raeann Rutledge and Steven Berg. He was raised in Roseburg until 1992. A release said Berg earned several very significant awards during his six years of service, including the Air Force Achievement Medal, Airman Below the Zone Award, Airman of the Quarter, Forecaster of the Month and ACC Airman of the Year in 2009, receiving accolades for assisting Air Force One.
The lighting of the flame will take place at the Valley River Shopping Center in Eugene, in the parking lot near the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant. Events will run from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Tribute to Fallen Soldiers Northwest is a non-profit organization formed in Eugene ten years ago.