Memorial Day Weekend: With Rolling Thunder
This weekend, I'll be in Washington DC with many other veterans for the Memorial Day demonstration by Rolling Thunder. Members of Rolling Thunder will ride from the Pentagon parking lot to Washington DC in what some people have described as "a sea of bikes."
People from all over the nation come to pay tribute to our fallen soldiers and those who are missing in action. This will be my first time at a Rolling Thunder event. As a motorcycle enthusiast and a veteran of Gulf War One, I feel a need to be there this weekend. I feel the need to be with the people who have worn the uniform and have been through war -- one far worse than mine -- and have come through it with a deeper respect for patriotism, and respect of freedom. I want to be with people who don't feel that the American flag is something to be ashamed of. I want to be with people who, like me, have sat in the foxhole and faced death head-on and know what the true value of "you watch my back, I'll watch yours" is.
I want to tell a veteran from WW2 "thanks for protecting my parents so I could be born." I want to tell a veteran from the Korean War that he and his sacrifice are not forgotten. I want to tell a veteran from Vietnam that "I love and respect him for doing what he had to do, when called to do his duty. I want to give him a belated hug and a "welcome home hero" that he so much deserves. I want to say "What's up, brother?" to a fellow Gulf War vet who went over to Kuwait and ate M.R.E.s and sand just like I did, in order to turn back a dictator's agression. I want to say "Thanks for protecting me and my wife and kids" to a kid just out of high school or college who has avenged the death of thousands of innocent Americans, drove a murderous sheik into hiding in a mountainous moonscape in Afghanistan, toppled a ruthless dictator and deprived him of the opportunity to kill thousands more with weapons of mass destruction, held radical Islamic terrorists at bay, and offered the chance to have true peace and freedom to the people of Iraq. If I can do all of these things, I will be a happy man. But if I do only one of these things this Memorial day, I will be a changed person, forever.
But most of all, I want to stand with all these people and say thanks to those who answered the call, but didn't come home. I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with my veterans and say to ours who have fallen, that you are not forgotten. In all of lifes comings and goings, your sacrifice is remembered.-- f22strike
Video: by jeffmcshay
Posted on YouTube: 04/04/07
Crossposted at "Alpheus Pope" blog
People from all over the nation come to pay tribute to our fallen soldiers and those who are missing in action. This will be my first time at a Rolling Thunder event. As a motorcycle enthusiast and a veteran of Gulf War One, I feel a need to be there this weekend. I feel the need to be with the people who have worn the uniform and have been through war -- one far worse than mine -- and have come through it with a deeper respect for patriotism, and respect of freedom. I want to be with people who don't feel that the American flag is something to be ashamed of. I want to be with people who, like me, have sat in the foxhole and faced death head-on and know what the true value of "you watch my back, I'll watch yours" is.
I want to tell a veteran from WW2 "thanks for protecting my parents so I could be born." I want to tell a veteran from the Korean War that he and his sacrifice are not forgotten. I want to tell a veteran from Vietnam that "I love and respect him for doing what he had to do, when called to do his duty. I want to give him a belated hug and a "welcome home hero" that he so much deserves. I want to say "What's up, brother?" to a fellow Gulf War vet who went over to Kuwait and ate M.R.E.s and sand just like I did, in order to turn back a dictator's agression. I want to say "Thanks for protecting me and my wife and kids" to a kid just out of high school or college who has avenged the death of thousands of innocent Americans, drove a murderous sheik into hiding in a mountainous moonscape in Afghanistan, toppled a ruthless dictator and deprived him of the opportunity to kill thousands more with weapons of mass destruction, held radical Islamic terrorists at bay, and offered the chance to have true peace and freedom to the people of Iraq. If I can do all of these things, I will be a happy man. But if I do only one of these things this Memorial day, I will be a changed person, forever.
But most of all, I want to stand with all these people and say thanks to those who answered the call, but didn't come home. I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with my veterans and say to ours who have fallen, that you are not forgotten. In all of lifes comings and goings, your sacrifice is remembered.-- f22strike
Video: by jeffmcshay
Posted on YouTube: 04/04/07
Crossposted at "Alpheus Pope" blog
Labels: life, memorial day, troops, war on terror
posted by Alpheus at 11:34 PM
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