Formation | 1987, incorporated 1995 |
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Type | 501(c)(4) non-profit |
Purpose | To bring full accountability for the 'Prisoners Of War' and 'Missing In Action' of all U.S. wars |
Headquarters | Neshanic Station, New Jersey |
Region served | International |
Membership | 90 Chapters |
Website | rollingthunder1 |
Rolling Thunder is a United States advocacy group that seeks to bring full accountability for prisoners of war (POWs) and missing in action (MIA) service members of all U.S. wars. The group's first demonstration was in 1988. It was incorporated in 1995, and has more than 90 chapters throughout the US, as well as overseas.
Their main annual event occurs on the Sunday before Memorial Day, in Columbus Ohio at the National Veteran's Memorial and Museum. Columbus is the new home for Rolling Thunder (Ohio/Midwest) beginning in 2020. Previously the event took place in Washington DC in which members make a slow motorcycle ride, called the "First Amendment Demonstration Run" or "Ride for Freedom," on a dedicated, closed-off, pre-set route through Washington D.C., leaving the Pentagon parking lot at noon, crossing the Memorial Bridge, and ending at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ("the Wall"). [1] [2] During the Rolling Thunder weekend, members and supporters spend time at the Thunder Alley (the official vendor site for the event [3] ), visit significant areas of Washington D.C., particularly the numerous memorials, and hear speeches given by members, supporters, military officials and politicians. In 2019 it was announced that the ride for that year would be the final time. On Sept. 19, National POW-MIA Recognition Day, AMVETS announced it will replace the demonstration ride in Washington with an event to be called "Rolling to Remember," on the same day and place with the same mission Rolling Thunder had used, adding suicide prevention as an additional issue. [4]
In 1987 Rolling Thunder made its first ride to the Vietnam War Memorial. [5]
Ray Manzo, a former United States Marine Corps Corporal, [6] U.S. Army Sergeant Major John Holland (Ret.), Marine First Sergeant Walt Sides (Ret.) and Sergeant Ted Sampley (Ret.) are the four men that are credited with starting Rolling Thunder before its incorporation in 1995. [7]
In 1987, Manzo visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., talked with fellow veterans, and first learned that American servicemen had been abandoned in Southeast Asia at the end of the Vietnam War.[ citation needed ] This was counter to his Marine Corps training to leave no man behind, and he became consumed with the idea that he must do something to bring attention to this issue. Manzo attended a POW/MIA vigil sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club when the idea came to him to host a motorcycle rally in the nation's capital to show the country and the world that U.S. prisoners of war and missing in action (POW/MIA) still mattered to their fellow servicemen and the country for which they sacrificed their freedom. [8]
Manzo drafted a letter for a call to action and began mailing it to motorcycling publications. He enlisted fellow veterans from the Washington D.C. area to help him through the red tape of requirements. Sgt. Major John Holland was experienced in government legislation and included 1st Sgt. Walt Sides, and Washington activist Sgt. Ted Sampley also joined them. These were the founders of Rolling Thunder. [9] Ted Sampley's colleague, Bob Schmitt, coined the phrase "Rolling Thunder". While staring at the Memorial Bridge and envisioning Manzo's dream, he said, "It will be like the sound of rolling thunder coming across the bridge."
On Memorial Day 1988, Cpl. Manzo recruited 2,500 men and women to attend Rolling Thunder I. [5]
Rolling Thunder Run to the Wall | |
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Status | Defunct |
Genre | Motorcycle rally |
Begins | Sunday, Memorial Day weekend |
Frequency | Annual |
Location(s) | Washington D.C. area |
Inaugurated | 1987 |
Most recent | 2019 |
Attendance | 500,000 (2018) |
Organised by | Rolling Thunder |
Website | www |
The First Amendment Demonstration Run, formerly Rolling Thunder Run to the Wall, was a motorcycle rally sponsored by the Rolling Thunder organization. The ride began on Sunday at the Pentagon after a "blessing of the bikes" at the National Cathedral on Friday and associated events end on Monday. [10]
Beginning in 1987 and continuing through 2019, Rolling Thunder conducted the Run to the Wall on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend to show their continued support for the efforts to find lost service men and women of past conflicts. [11] In May 2001 the estimated number of motorcycles involved in this rally was 200,000. [12] The event drew an estimated 350,000 motorcyclists in May 2008, [11] and 500,000 in 2018. [13] The rally was canceled in 2019. [14]
Rolling Thunder has 88 chapters covering 29 states all of which are governed by the same constitution and bylaws. Many of Rolling Thunder's members are veterans and own motorcycles; however, neither is a requirement for membership. All Members of this organization must be willing to help fight the prisoner of war missing in action issue, which still exists. To help protect future veterans from becoming POW-MIA's and to help veterans in need from all wars.
Rolling Thunder also allows for the formation of new chapters worldwide. All chapters of Rolling Thunder have their own president and board members and are accountable for fund raising proceeds and tax information. New chapters must have a minimum of 20 members including the president and board members. [15]
Rolling Thunder has expanded its operations to include Rolling Thunder Charities as of 2007, a class 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. This part of the organization adheres to the same laws that govern its parent corporation. Rolling Thunder Charities was designed to help members as well as U.S. Military troops and their families that are in need of financial help. Rolling Thunder Charities sells Rolling Thunder memorabilia and conducts other fundraising activities.
Rolling Thunder was influential in the passing of the Missing Service Personnel Act of 1993. The bill states that a service member cannot be listed as killed in action (KIA) without substantial evidence. In 1995 Rolling Thunder Inc. won approval from the United States Government for a POW/MIA postage stamp to be put in circulation and the organization continues to work with the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on new bills for the return of, and information about, servicemen and women. Rolling Thunder co-authored the 2006 Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act. [16]
The Economist said the organization "was founded...to advance a specific crackpot belief: that successive Republican and Democratic administrations have concealed evidence that American captives are being held alive in South-East Asia." [17]
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The two-acre (8,100 m2) site is dominated by two black granite walls engraved with the names of those service members who died or remain missing as a result of their service in Vietnam and South East Asia during the war. The Wall, completed in 1982, has since been supplemented with the statue The Three Soldiers in 1984 and the Vietnam Women's Memorial in 1993.
The Three Soldiers is a bronze statue by Frederick Hart. Unveiled on Veterans Day, November 11, 1984, on the National Mall, it is part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial commemorating the Vietnam War. It was the first representation of an African American on the National Mall.
A motorcycle club is a group of individuals whose primary interest and activities involve motorcycles. A motorcycle group can range as clubbed groups of different bikes or bikers who own same model of vehicle like the Harley Owners Group.
Veterans for Peace is an organization founded in 1985. Initially made up of US military veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War, and as well as peacetime veterans and non-veterans, it has since spread overseas and has an active offshoot in the United Kingdom. The group works to promote alternatives to war.
The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, commonly known as the National League of POW/MIA Families or the League, is an American 501(c)(3) humanitarian organization that is concerned with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue. According to the group's web site, its sole purpose is "to obtain the release of all prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for the missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains of those who died serving our nation during the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia." The League's most prominent symbol is its famous flag.
The National League of Families POW/MIA flag, often referred to as the POW/MIA flag, was adopted in 1972 and consists of the official emblem of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia in white on a black background. In 2019 the National POW/MIA Flag Act was signed into law, requiring the POW/MIA flag to be flown on certain federal properties, including the U.S. Capitol Building, on all days the U.S. flag is flown.
The U.S.–Russia Joint Commission on POWs/MIAs (USRJC) was established in 1992 by the presidents of the United States and the Russian Federation, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin. The USRJC was established to determine the fates of the United States's and the Soviet Union's unaccounted-for service personnel from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, Afghanistan and the Vietnam War, Laos and Cambodia.
The Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs was a special committee convened by the United States Senate during the George H. W. Bush administration to investigate the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue, that is, the fate of United States service personnel listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War. The committee was in existence from August 2, 1991 to January 2, 1993.
Orange County Choppers bikes are motorcycles featured on the television series American Chopper built by Orange County Choppers (OCC) for a specific corporate or celebrity customer. Theme bikes are motorcycles in which the theme of the motorcycle takes priority over everything else, influencing the frame dimensions, paint scheme, and overall 'feel' of the motorcycle. The function of motorcycle usually takes a backseat to the presentation of the theme, and these motorcycles attract attention solely on the premise of the theme itself. Customer bikes are built for and generally to the specifications of a particular customer. Although the customers typically give OCC creative freedom to do what they will, some clients have a specific idea in mind and expect OCC to reproduce their mental picture literally.
Founded in October 1947, JV's Restaurant is a Falls Church and Fairfax County, Virginia restaurant and live music venue. Located on Arlington Boulevard, Route 50, just west of Annandale Road, JV's has provided live music for more than four decades. In 2004, the Washington Area Music Association presented JV's with the Special Appreciation Award, voted on by participating Washington-region musicians, as their favorite live venue.
The Vietnam War POW/MIA issue concerns the fate of United States servicemen who were reported as missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War and associated theaters of operation in Southeast Asia. The term also refers to issues related to the treatment of affected family members by the governments involved in these conflicts. Following the Paris Peace Accords of 1973, 591 U.S. prisoners of war (POWs) were returned during Operation Homecoming. The United States listed about 2,500 Americans as prisoners of war or missing in action but only 1,200 Americans were reported to have been killed in action with no body recovered. Many of these were airmen who were shot down over North Vietnam or Laos. Investigations of these incidents have involved determining whether the men involved survived being shot down. If they did not survive, then the U.S. government considered efforts to recover their remains. POW/MIA activists played a role in pushing the U.S. government to improve its efforts in resolving the fates of these missing service members. Progress in doing so was slow until the mid-1980s when relations between the United States and Vietnam began to improve and more cooperative efforts were undertaken. Normalization of the U.S. relations with Vietnam in the mid-1990s was a culmination of this process.
Vietnam in HD is a 6-part American documentary television miniseries that originally aired from November 8 to November 11, 2011 on the History Channel. From the same producers as WWII in HD, the program focuses on the firsthand experiences of thirteen Americans during the Vietnam War. The thirteen Americans retell their stories in Vietnam paired with found footage from the battlefield.
The Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club (NABSMC) is a Black (African-American) motorcycle club in the United States, named for the historic African-American United States Army regiments known as Buffalo Soldiers, seen in their patch. It is one of the biggest Black motorcycle clubs in the US and the biggest African American motorcycle club in Chicago, with 140+ chapters as of 2019, with over 5000 members across the USA.
2 Million Bikers to DC was a protest/motorcycle ride which brought thousands of riders from various parts of the United States to Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2013.
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Theodore Lane Sampley was an American Vietnam War veteran and activist. He primarily advocated for those servicemembers still considered missing in action or prisoners of war (POW-MIA) as of the end of hostilities in 1975. A staunch political conservative, he also ran for local political office several times. He is credited with the research that identified Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie as the Vietnam fatality buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and for his role in organizing the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle event in Washington. In Kinston, North Carolina, where he lived for much of his adult life, he was known for his local civic activism, most notably his effort to build a replica of the Confederate ironclad CSS Neuse, the only full-size replica of a Confederate ironclad, in the city's downtown.
Staff Sergeant Tim Chambers, better known as "The Saluting Marine", is the uniformed veteran who stands and salutes in the middle of the motorcycle traffic during the Rolling Thunder demonstrations in Washington D.C., on the Sunday before Memorial Day. He has done so since 2001, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. He often holds his salute for hours while the motorcycle parade passes by.
The Augusta-Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) Vietnam War Veterans Memorial is a granite and bronze monument placed in Augusta, Georgia, March 29, 2019, to honor the CSRA's 169 Vietnam War dead, three Ex-Prisoners of War (Vietnam), and one former Missing in Action (MIA) as well as the region's 15,000 surviving Vietnam War Veterans. The memorial is located in the "Olde Town" section of Augusta, Georgia, on the Broad Street median between Third and Fourth Streets. The monument was designed, purchased, and placed by the Augusta Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars (MOWW) and the chapter's 17 community partners who made up the Augusta-CSRA Vietnam War Memorial Initiative (VWMI) Steering Committee.
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Further reading