The motorcycle escort to accompany Spc. Michael C. Wargo's steel statue to Harrisburg has been rescheduled for Monday evening to avoid morning traffic on Tuesday.

Riders can meet at the Mahoning Valley Ambulance building at 902 Mill Road in Lehighton, with an expected departure time of 4 p.m. The group plans to arrive in the capital by about 6 p.m. Bikers are welcome to hang out while the statues are set up, but anyone is free to leave early.The statue is a silhouette of Wargo, a 1994 graduate of Lehighton Area High School and Army veteran who spent 10 months in Iraq as a chemical weapons specialist. Wargo returned home in 2005, but suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder for eight years until taking his own life.The Valor Clinic in Jonas nominated Wargo as part of the Mission 22 memorial project "The War at Home," a way to honor the sacrifices of service members and remind citizens of the strife of mental illnesses that lead to the suicides of 22 veterans every day."They survived the war over there, and they come back here and deal with PTSD and (traumatic brain injury), and they just can't put up the with the hurt and the pain. We owe our veterans more than what we've given them," Wargo's father, Mike, said.Butch Zacharias, a First Cavalry Division Vietnam veteran from Effort, volunteered his expertise and supplies to weld the statue to a base in April.A ceremony for the installation of the statue will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Family and friends of Wargo will be invited onto the House Floor, where they will be introduced by state Rep. Doyle Heffley. The outdoor portion of the event will begin at 11 a.m., with speakers including Heffley; Mike Kissel, founder and vice president of Mission 22; Karen Mojecki from Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors; Mark Baylis of Valor Clinic/Paul's House; Jed Smurda; and Mike and Sally Wargo. The National Guard has been invited to conduct the posting and retiring of colors, along with the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Patriot Guard will participate in a flag line.After the display in Harrisburg is wrapped up next month, Wargo's statue will come home to Lehighton.