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Ride for Pride to honor veterans Wednesday

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When you look over toward Eco Park this Wednesday and see a big rig sitting near the Iraq War monument, it won’t just some guy who got lost.

That truck is supposed to be there, painted in a military scheme so it fits in with the event that will be held at the city facility.

The Ride for Pride truck will visit Cape Coral and set up at the monument from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for people to visit, take pictures and for a plaque to be dedicated there.

Michelle Rosenberger, who helped make the Iraq war monument a reality and who organized this event, said she wanted to bring more people in to see the monument and thought this would be a good, fun way to do it.

“It’s nice to have there to put in front of our monument,” Rosenberger said, “I called them up and set up the date.”

Ride for Pride is a rolling tribute to members of the U.S. military past and present – from Schneider National, a transport and freight company.

The new military-themed tractor joins Schneider’s fleet of six Ride of Pride tractors and is captained by longtime Schneider driver and U.S. military veteran Randy Twine.

According to the Schneider Web site, Ride of Pride originated in 2001, when Ed Keeter, a shift manager and U.S. veteran at Freightliner, the company that builds the trucks, proposed the project as a way to honor military veterans at the company’s manufacturing plant in North Carolina.

The original idea was to decorate a truck and drive it to the local veterans’ hospital. However, Freightliner’s employees so loved the idea it became part of a national effort and includes participating in the annual Ride for Freedom, a procession through Washington, D.C., each Memorial Day.

Soon, Freightliner began awarding a Ride of Pride truck annually to a trucking company, and Schneider soon was on top of the list of the recipients. Over the past seven years, because of Schneider’s commitment to veterans and the military, Freightliner has awarded seven Ride of Pride trucks to its fleet.

The 2014 truck is decaled with historical images representing all U.S. conflicts since World War II. It also showcases Arlington Cemetery and the digital camouflage military uniform.

“It’s a good time to come and take a photo with the truck and have a good time,” Rosenberger said.