It always rains on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in D.C., or so it seems. And the weather forecast said that this year would be no different from years past - rain was expected. But when so many had traveled so far to make the pilgrimage over the Memorial Bridge, past the U.S. Capitol, and on to the Vietnam Memorial, a little rain in the forecast was not going to dissuade any of the 250,000 motorcyclists expected for this annual event. Surprisingly, despite the cool temperatures, the gloomy forecast, and the overcast skies, it did not rain on those who participated in Rolling Thunder this year.

Many riders began their journey at local Harley-Davidson dealerships and other similar locations, and then proceeded in groups to the Pentagon. But I rode directly to the Pentagon, which is where the parade assembles and commences. Here was to be found a sea of motorcycles - more than could be appreciated from any one viewing angle. Perhaps ninety percent of them were Harley-Davidsons, in my estimation, and (to no surprise) very few of these Harleys were equipped with mufflers - thus the source of the "rolling thunder". The license tags on the bikes betrayed the distances traveled by so many to attend, and every state east of the Mississippi was well represented. Most of those in attendance were veterans of the war in Viet Nam.

Thousands lined the parade route in support of the riders. Many of these folks were tourists in awe of this spectacle; others were veterans with their families. Some of the spectators (mostly youngsters) were seeking high fives from the passing riders. One group distributed small American flags to those in the procession, and one guy handed me a cold can of Budweiser as I rode by (if that was you, thanks). It took hours for the entire procession to complete the brief journey, and bikes were parked everywhere near The Wall (The Viet Nam Memorial on The Mall). The estimate of 250,000 bikes in attendance seemed accurate. As I rode in this parade of leather and chrome, a number of thoughts raced through my mind, thoughts about the legacy of Viet Nam and about motorcycling in general.

Many people videotaped the procession, and among those recording were Federal authorities. I have discussed this with Federal officers and they freely admit that they tape this event "for training purposes". Nonsense. Thanks to a stereotype which began with a Brando movie from the early fifties, the image remains in many people's thinking that if you ride a motorcycle, you must be some kind of an outlaw or undesirable. This is the true reason for the video-surveillance; police routinely videotape many biker events. Even in a group of veterans on Memorial Day weekend who simply demand a more complete accounting of the POW's ("prisoners of war") and MIA's (those classified as "missing in action") who never returned home after the Viet Nam War ended, motorcyclists are looked upon with suspicion. Never mind that nearly every product advertised from Chex Cereal to Mercedes-Benz cars utilizes the image of the hardcore biker to help sell their products. Forget that most of those in attendance were in their fifties and were riding bikes which cost in excess of fifteen thousand dollars (and some cost at least twice that much); the assumption seems to be that "they ride motorcycles so they must be dangerous criminals".

This year, Heather French, the reigning Miss America, was one of these "undesirables". The daughter of a veteran (who apparently has known some tough times), she is quite sympathetic to veterans' causes and so she rode in the event this year. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell also participated in the event once again this year, and this honorable gentleman is hardly an "outlaw".

The fact is that, despite the image projected by the leather clad bikers, those who ride motorcycles are no more likely to be dangerous to society than ANY other group of individuals.

I had ridden in this event before, but I had forgotten how much I had felt as though I was crashing someone else's party. I am forty-four years old. By the time I turned eighteen, the draft had ended and the war in Viet Nam was winding down for all Americans except for those who were still serving over there. No one I knew who was my age had any interest in joining a military that could so callously send so many to their deaths on such flimsy pretense. This was no world war. I remember vividly as a teenager, driving past the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Annex in Silver Spring, Maryland and seeing guys with missing limbs, etc., who had just returned from ‘Nam, and I was determined not to become a victim of any such conflict, if I could help it. And, fortunately, there was no such conflict when I was of an age where I would be expected to serve. I was extremely lucky. And so I am not a veteran, but yet I rode in this procession.

I rode my bike in Rolling Thunder to show my respect for those who did serve, and especially for those who paid the ultimate price in that they never returned home, despite the fact that I had peacefully but vehemently protested the war as a youth (and was arrested for my efforts). Understand that I was protesting the political hacks who had sent our guys over there, not those who served with honor.

I still feel that Robert McNamara (who was the Secretary of Defense and the architect of U.S. involvement in Viet Nam) and his cohorts all belong in prison for the American travesty that was the Viet Nam War. A quarter of a century after the victory by the "commies", we are still waiting for the dominoes to fall!

Incidentally, McNamara recently published a book in which he essentially said about the war twenty-five years later: "Oops, we were wrong". For him to refuse requests to offer royalties from this book to veterans groups while he resides in his multi-million dollar oceanfront Cape Cod estate I think is insulting to those who dutifully served in Viet Nam. And it is especially insulting to the 56,000+ whose names are inscribed on The Wall and to their surviving loved ones. He shows as little respect today for those who followed his orders as he did then. I think it says much about his character, or lack thereof.

I firmly believe that those who protested the war - following Jefferson's dictate in the Declaration of Independence - were entirely responsible for finally at long last ending the disastrous American involvement in Viet Nam. These patriotic protestors endured the scorn and ridicule of politicians, veterans, and so many others. Yet, were it not for their bold actions, we might today still be mired in this atrocious endeavor, (during which we bombarded their nation with napalm and agent orange, the legacies of which will last for generations, and annihilated uncounted women and children in our effort to win this despicable war).

Without the efforts of these anti-war protestors, who knows how many more years might have passed before we finally woke up to the fact that we didn't belong in this conflict, just as the French had learned previously. The Vietnamese were not fighting for communism; they were fighting against foreign imperialist aggressors! And despite our best intentions, we were perceived as such.

Those who protested the U.S. involvement directly saved who knows how many American lives, probably tens of thousands. Yet, I am certain that there will never be any monument in the nation's capital to these Americans of conscience and principle and the many sacrifices they made.

(Also, I firmly believe that a desire by those in power at the time to punish the war protesting "pot smoking hippies" who "dared to defy the authorities" is the actual reason for the existence of the laws used to harass and imprison marijuana users today. A vindictive President Nixon sought to punish these protestors by commencing an aggressive war on pot smokers, and it is these laws which he had enacted that are still used today to ensnare pot smokers in a cruel criminal justice debacle. This, despite the fact that so many who served in Viet Nam also smoked weed during their service. And, of course, many still do today, despite the threat of Draconian penalties if caught. Everyone who is objective on the subject agrees that the war on adult pot smokers is a pathetic joke. Obviously, using marijuana hasn't destroyed the lives of such admitted pot smokers as Al Gore or Bill Bradley. But this is a subject for another venue.)

Most of those who participated in Rolling Thunder feel that the Government is simply patronizing them when a few bones of human remains are returned with much ceremony and the government claims that that is all that is left of those who never returned. They firmly believe that the government does not even want to look for any who may still be alive, because this would validate the bitter, resentful feelings of so many Viet Nam era veterans. Some are even convinced that the government is covering up knowledge of the whereabouts of surviving POW’s and MIA’s! Just imagine the embarrassment, the implications, and the repercussions that would result from actually locating any such poor souls after so many years!

In fact, many feel that the government is hoping to end the annual event that is Rolling Thunder with its demands for a redoubled search effort and a more thorough accounting of the MIA's and POW's from our involvement in Viet Nam. This display of demand and protest makes politicians extremely uncomfortable and they would like nothing more than for these veterans to shut up and go away.

These loyal veterans, however, will not be silenced and they will not be going away anytime soon. For so very many, the Viet Nam war might as well have just ended yesterday; it is still that fresh in their minds. And they absolutely believe that their cause is just. They simply demand the return of any who may still be held by our onetime enemies, while at the same time they remember and honor those whose names are inscribed on The Wall. And they will return next year and the year after that and so on, to ride in thundering protest, rain or shine, until they are satisfied that everything possible has been done to bring them all home.