Dozens of folks turned out in Aurora to thank and greet veterans bicycling across America in the Wounded Warriors Sea to Shining Sea Bike Ride.

The veterans and their support crew stopped Wednesday, July 11, at Aurora Fire Department for a lunch provided by the Aurora Lions Club. Many locals brought sack lunches and shared their mealtime.

John Malkin, Normal, Ill., was taking the day off from bicycling with the group, but shared some feelings about the ride.

“We all have different reasons why we join this team,” he said. But part of the reason is to highlight the high unemployment among wounded veterans, somewhere above 20 percent. Yes, there's healing, but tough love also is needed “to get these guys up working again,” he said.

The veterans making the ride deal with disabilities from blindness to Traumatic Brain Injury and demonstrate what one can do despite major injuries.