WHY WE RIDE
We ride to honor those American soldiers who did not come home. We may ride to the Vietnam Memorial, but we honor those from every war where American soldiers fought, bled, and died. It matters not which war they fought in, the American Revolution or Vietnam, Iragi Freedom or World War II. It matters not if they were listed as Missing, Prisoners of War, or Killed in Action, we ride to honor them. A great many of those who ride are veterans of those wars while many are spouses and family members and so many just ride to honor those who never came home.

Below is a bit of prose writtewn by a fellow rider that really tells the story of whay we ride to The Wall on Memorial Day weekend.

Four Hundred Thousand Strong

Terry Longpre
Memorial Day 2008

We came from all across the nation,
And we rode our bikes to the Wall,
We came from towns both large and small,
We came to honor those that given their all.

Those names on the black granite are friends and relatives,
The little boy down the street is on Wall,
They may be husbands, wives or children,
Their names are here for us, one and all.

We might ride a Honda, BMW or Harley,
Those that we came to see don’t mind,
Can you hear the voices talking to you?
They speak so low and kind.

Where are our POW’s and MIA’s?
Should they be on the Wall?
You know you are not forgotten,
You are loved by one and all.

We gathered here from all points across the country,
When we started our bikes and headed to the Wall,
It would make a sane person wonder,
It sounded like "Rolling Thunder".

Why are all these people here?
We are here to honor those on the Wall,
We came in large numbers to show our respect,
They are the ones that gave their lives, after all.

We came from the Army and the Marines,
We came from the Air Force, Navy,
Coast Guard and the Merchant Marines.

There were thousands of American and POW/MIA flags on bikes,
Many with service and unit flags too,
They were on two wheelers, trucks and trikes.
We are here for our brothers and sisters,

We are here to thank those that went before us,
We are not here to discuss if "it" was right or wrong,
Together, here to stand, four hundred thousand strong.