July 10, 2020 9:20 a.m. 

The family of Air Force Staff Sergeant Rory Berg, who live in Roseburg, has accepted the honor of lighting this year’s Fallen Soldiers Memorial Flame to open the 11th annual Tribute to Fallen Soldiers Memorial Torch Motorcycle Ride.

A release from Tribute to Fallen Soldiers Northwest said the lighting will take place on Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the Texas Roadhouse Restaurant in Eugene.

This summer’s cross-country tribute ride will be traveling more than 4,000 miles through 14 different states and honoring a total of 68 fallen service members from all branches of the military. It will culminate in Washington D.C. on Sunday August 2nd when the Fallen Soldiers Memorial Flame is escorted onto the grounds of Arlington National Cemetery where the flame will be formally extinguished.

Each summer when the flame is lit, a Gold Star family from Oregon gets to light it to recognize their individual fallen hero, but to also honor those along the cross-country journey. This summer the honor is given to Reann Rutledge Garrett, mother of Air Force Staff Sergeant Rory Berg, who died April 18th, 2011 while serving his country as an airman in the United States Air Force.