MORGAN COUNTY
James Royster spent nearly two months this past summer on a group motorcycle ride across the U.S.
Royster, who lives in Madison, participated for 51 days on a trip called “End of Watch Ride,” which stops in towns across the nation honoring fallen police officers.
It is put together as hundreds of participants go “beyond the call of duty” to honor those lost.
He told the Lake Oconee News that he enjoyed his experience on the road for a good cause.
Royster joined the ride on June 29 and met other participants in Meridian, Miss. The next few stops on the ride for him included Jackson, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., Fort Myers, Fla., and then all the way down to Miami, Fla.
“We then worked all the way up the East Coast to Vermont, and then went all the way down to New Mexico,” Royster said. “We then went all the way out to Colorado.”
Royster also traveled to Washington, Minnesota and various other states across the country. He enjoyed his time with others and how they were all riding for the same reason.
“Along the way, they will bring in family members from fallen officers to ride with us,” Royster said. “They’ll fly them in for like 10 days or however long they can stay, everything is totally free for them. We’re just all volunteers. Nobody draws a check.”
Royster, along with the others, wants to help families overcome the loss of their loved ones. The group does so by holding ceremonies for those lost in the line of duty at police stations and sheriff’s departments across the nation, whether it be in Florida or Oregon.
“Once I got the call to come, I said ‘yeah.’ It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing that I got to do,” Royster said. “That’s how I got involved. It was an amazing experience to be a part of.”
According to Royster, the End of Watch ride this summer honored 608 officers who lost their lives in 2021. The FBI’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted database says that officer deaths were up 29 percent last year across the country.
The End of Watch Ride starts in Spokane, Wash., every year on June 1. The group escorts a 41-foot trailer across the country to honor fallen officers from the prior year. The truck features photos of all those who were killed on duty. It will go all around the country and end back up in Spokane on Aug. 18 each year.
“It is 79 days total, goes through 48 states, goes to 268 [police] departments and in total, they ride for 21,158 miles,” Royster said. “Four of them completed the whole trip.”
The End of Watch ride was started by JC Shah, who is a former law enforcement officer, and it took him five full years to put all of the pieces together, Royster added.
“I plan on doing the whole trip next year,” Royster said. “I can’t wait for it.”
The first time he participated with the group was last year in Jackson County. He went up to Commerce and attended a ceremony for the families of Georgia’s fallen officers.
“They [the riders] stopped at the courthouse for about an hour-and-a-half doing a ceremony for the fallen officers’ wives, husbands or basically any family members that could attend,” Royster said. “They give them t-shirts, hats and a bag of stuff. We usually stay for an hour and a half and head on to the next destination of the ride.”
According to EndOfWatchRide. com, “Our purpose is to ensure that no officer is forgotten, that their families know their loved one has not been forgotten; and that there is recognition, support, and understanding to help them heal. We also support department safety and training to help lower the number of fallen officers we see each year.”