The 2020 Solider Ride through the Keys included a visit with dolphins

The 2020 Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride in the Florida Keys took place Jan. 10 and 11.

This year, 44 combat veterans rode bicycles and specially built bikes adapted for their needs from Key Largo to Key West on U.S. 1.

Patriotic banners and yellow ribbons placed by residents, who greeted them along the way.

Rachael Rodgers, a former U.S. Army medic, was among those who also swam with the dolphins as part of a special event at the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key at mile marker 59.

“What makes the experience special for me personally is the camaraderie with the veterans,” Rodgers said. “It’s a very unique network especially with disabled vets. We understand where each other is at.

Rodgers said, “You have to find any bit of joy in any experience you can.”

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.