The Buckingham Herald Tribblog

His friend who he'd met an hour before (in the center of the photo) said, "We, as Americans, those who are veterans, know what war is."

He brought up a theme that the rest of the men shared, of a country too interested in things, kids too interested in new cars and stereos and not interested in history and the lives lost: people not interested in the sacrifices others made so the rest of us could have those luxuries.

Veterans keep the country safe, "So you can do what you want to do," he said.

These four veterans (one isn't pictured) shot the breeze on the grounds of the Arlington Assembly of God church, last Sunday, and they let me listen in. It was an emotional conversation with some tears, and words caught in throats, but also a lot of laughs, that circled around a few ideas including the heroic nature of the men who died, and the need to remember. They believe that America makes mistakes, but its overall history is in the right direction.

They were in town, of course, having made the annual “Run for the Wall” motorcycle trip from California and Florida, for the Rolling Thunder rally and remembrance on the National Mall.

“It’s a trip to bring attention to those who are missing,” said the man in the middle. “The accountability is not there.”

Untrusting of the press, and annoyed by how the ride and stories about veterans are treated, they did not give their names. With a friend, who isn't pictured above, they wanted only to be called "Four American Veterans."

When the man on the right said he never actually served, the rest insisted he was a veteran since he lived through the Viet Nam war, and since he spent a good deal of time thinking about, and worrying about, his brother, the man in the middle of the photo.

“I didn’t serve, and I wanted to give something back,” said the man on the right. And he wondered aloud why people in the area are so bothered by the motorcycles.

They told stories of riding through towns where the mayors came to meet them, where the riders were given keys to the city, where people cheered the route.

The man on the left said, “Ask them [people in this area] about the motorcycles, and then ask them, ‘Do you like living free?’”

Labels: memorial day, vietnam

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:52 AM 1 comments

Veterans on motorcycles rumbled into town as they always do for the big “Rolling Thunder” parade this Memorial Day, and, again as they always do, some encamped on the Arlington Assembly of God Church at the corner of N. Pershing Drive and Arlington Boulevard.

Bill Francis, of California, made the annual drive with his friend, Phil Vasquez. The nine-day trip was a first for both of them.

Despite the sometimes vulgar warnings on his helmet (“I’m not prejudiced. I hate everybody.” And “Do I look like a people person?”), Mr. Francis was very friendly and in the mood to talk Sunday morning.

By then, about 8:30 a.m., the other riders had decamped for the Rolling Thunder staging area in the Pentagon North Parking Lot. Participants had to arrive at 6:30 for a 12 o'clock ride.

Mr. Francis and Mr. Vasquez were heading for North Carolina, and had no real interest in sitting on their motorcycles in a parking lot for six hours, they said.

A highlight of the event for Mr. Francis, a Vietnam Veteran, was carrying a placard of a fallen Marine to the Vietnam Memorial. Organizers ask new riders to volunteer for the honor.

“I was lucky enough to get my hand up first,” he said.

Dozens of tents and hundreds of people slept on the church's grass for all or some of the weekend.