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Jody Hall Annual Memorial Ride 2022

Joining together to remember and celebrate the life of our brother…

This is the third year that the American Legion Riders Post #104 gather to remember their brother, a retired Air Force veteran with 22 years of service.

Today, Roadkill and the Legion Riders celebrate Jody’s life the way he would have, had he been here. Riding to remember the good times, and making some good out of the bad.

“Sometimes there’s just no words…”

Roadkill was there when Jody got married on a sailboat. Roadkill was there the day they spread Jody’s ashes off a boat. Roadkill was there for all of the 30 years of miles in between.

Jody met Roadkill under the big tree at the old Jim’s Harley Dealership on Haines Road in St. Petersburg. “The Tree Gang” used to ride together back in the day, meeting under the big oak in the parking lot. They started at Post #125 for Bloody Mary Specials to kick things off, and who knows where they would end up from there.

Jody was one of the charter members of Post 104 Legion Riders 20 years ago, one of the earliest to establish in the area. Jody was “larger than life”. “A true brother to the core who enjoyed the good times and a good party”. Intelligence at its finest. One of the greatest guys ever. True grit – could be abrasive in personality, but was very caring underneath it all. He had a huge heart. He was even involved in Animal Rescue with his Mrs.

Roadkill was there for Jody’s 50^th birthday party when Jody climbed a huge oak tree out back, jumped on a branch and fell 30 feet to the ground landing on his back. Carted off to the ER he went…ever the smartass to the EMTs J.

He was so full of life. No one under stands the how or the why. Maybe it was related to his physical complications from medical issues. Jody’s decision made life difficult for so many left behind – no one saw this coming. Jody left this world on Roadkill’s birthday.

The annual memorial event this year was a Poker Run and Fundraiser with all proceeds being donated to K9s for Warriors. Over $9,000.00 was raised in Jody’s memory which will be gifted to K9s for Warriors . They are the largest provider of service dogs to veterans in the U.S., rescuing many of their dogs from high kill shelters. Their website notes that they have rescued more than 1,300 dogs so far. This year’s event really paralleled Jody’s life bringing together veterans, animals, a good party, and killer music by Wallace Blvd! The Riders will make the journey to Jacksonville, FL to present the check to the K9s for Warrior in Jody’s Name.

You can find out more about K9s for Warriors at the link below. Their Mission: “Determined to end veteran suicide, K9s For Warriors provides highly-trained Service Dogs to military veterans suffering from PTSD, traumatic brain injury and/or military sexual trauma.”

https://k9sforwarriors.org