2013 Ride to The Wall

 

On May 23, 2013 we took off for our fourth Ride to the Wall with Rolling Thunder of Indiana Chapter 1, that’s us third and fourth from the left in the second row.  We do this ride to meet up with hundreds of thousands of other riders in Washington D.C. on Memorial Day weekend to participate in a demonstration ride.  The demonstration is to bring attention to the lack of focus on bringing home each and every one of our MIAs or POWs.  In Indiana alone there are still 51 missing from the Viet Nam era.

This year’s ride was very uncomfortable.  Temperatures didn’t get out of the 40’s and if you figure in the wind chill at highway speeds on a motorcycle, you end up with temperatures in the 20’s.  I kept reminding myself that the discomfort I was going through was nothing compared to what soldiers who are held captive or are missing in action have or are going through—and that was our mission, to bring attention to their plight.

I did get a very fashionable pair of jeans as a result of the trip, I rubbed my legs so much with my gloves that they are now threadbare.  Since we didn’t need our leather jackets and chaps for the prior three trips we decided not to take them this year since they take up so much space if we aren’t wearing them—not one of our better decisions.

On a sad note, we lost a friend from our Rolling Thunder chapter in an accident while we were in Washington, D.C.  Sam Hillis died as a result of injuries he sustained when he was struck by a car that ran a red light.