30 years later, still roaring for POW/MIA freedom

For three decades, they have faithfully fired up their machines, raised up Old Glory and taken off on a mission of freedom, remembrance and resolve. This is the true essence of Rolling Thunder, an annual event which draws 500,000 motorcyclists to the nation’s capital each year to underscore the rights and importance of veterans who fought our wars, those soldiers missing in action, and the POWs who never made it home.

It is a riveting display. And a noisy one.

Rolling Thunder is the perfect name: These riders do roll, and there is thunder. Faith is not overlooked. There’s a “blessing of the bikes” at Washington National Cathedral and a candlelight vigil for the fallen. Camaraderie and remarkable spectacle is paramount. When the 30th annual “Ride for Freedom” begins on Sunday, the half-million stalwarts will gather at dawn in a staging area at the Pentagon. In a process that can take five hours, the biker battalion slowly but surely assembles in a unique but efficient formation — lines of four ready to roll, a million chromed wheels set to make the short journey to the National Mall.

And so it begins..

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