News-Info-Alerts

Re: Hear the Roar

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: May 27, 2002

"Bikers making sure veterans are not forgotten

By Sarah Myers, Journal and Courier

"Hear that rumble in the distance?"

Bill Summerfield could hear the bikers long before they arrived. He had been looking forward to this all day. Dressed in a heavy leather jacket, a bandanna, and sunglasses, he looked every bit the biker.

Summerfield has been a registered nurse at the Indiana Veterans' Home in West Lafayette for 14 years. And for the past three, he has been watching the bikers arrive.

"The residents just love this," he said with a wide smile.

About 50 bikers arrived at the veterans' home Wednesday as part of the 14th annual Rolling Thunder Ride to the Wall. The ride is an 11-day event beginning in California and culminating in Washington, D.C., picking up local groups along the way.

The group will arrive in Washington on Friday for a Memorial Day event expected to draw more than 300,000 veterans. This year, the ride is in honor of Vincent Leo Mager, who was killed in action in Vietnam at the age of 20 after just a year in the service.

The bikers arrived on Harleys and greeted each other -- and the resident veterans -- with warm hugs. Veteran Bill Name was especially touched by the sense of family that surrounded the visit.

"All Vietnam vets don't handshake. They hug," he said. "That means a lot to me."

Organizers Steve "Head Dog" Moore and Chuck "Tuna" Coleman said respect for the veterans at home is especially important.

"We want them to know they're not forgotten. They're special, too." Moore said.

Moore and Coleman are both Vietnam veterans joining the ride from Michigan City. Moore served in the Air Force from 1973-79. Coleman served in the Fifth Marine Division from 1968-70. Although both have visited the Vietnam Memorial several times, each visit remains difficult.

"I've got a lot of buddies on the wall," Coleman said. "It's very special, very emotional. It's a healing process. It took me a long time to get the courage to go."

The events of Sept. 11 have made this year's ride more special for many of the riders.

"With everything that's happened this year, it makes you think about the people who have served. It makes you appreciate Memorial Day more," said first-time rider Rick Doperalski.

Summerfield hopes the renewed sense of patriotism brings more people to the ride.

"It's nice to see people are backing the troops and supporting the soldiers," he said.

The riders also hoped to spread the message that soldiers who fought and remain missing not be forgotten.

"People think the MIA/POW issue is dead, but it's not," said Summerfield, who cited several instances, including the recent discovery of a MIA soldier from Desert Storm, that continue to give him hope.

Coleman said the recent events in Afghanistan are a good reminder of the issue.

"There are still POW/MIAs, especially now. The whole point is to have accountability for those out there," he said.

Nearly all of the riders sported patches promoting the cause, and POW flags were handed out to the resident veterans.

Michigan City resident Sue Borton recalled one man asking her to put his flag in his pocket, "so (he) wouldn't lose it," she said. "It brought tears to my eyes to see that."

Wednesday was an emotional day for many at the veterans home. Four-year Navy veteran Dan Adams has ridden motorcycles for 20 years. Looking down from the window in his room, he eyed the long row of Harleys below.

"There are things I can't do anymore that I used to do all the time," he said.

Name echoed the same sentiment, recalling how he used to race Harleys during the 1960s. Long after their days on the road, the two remain proud of their biker lifestyles.

The bikers brought cheer to everyone they visited Wednesday. Woolie J. Childres, who served in the Marines from 1943-46, was still chatting and smiling after the engines died down.

"It's always nice to be recognized and know that someone else appreciates what you did," he said.

Memorial Day schedule

American Legion Post 125 in Otterbein, will handle Memorial Day services Monday, including a firing squad, color guard, chaplain and taps. The firing squad will assemble at 9 a.m. Monday at Post Home on Main Street in Otterbein.

Services will follow at the following cemeteries: Griffith Cemetery, 9:30 a.m.; Mound Cemetery, 9:45 a.m.; Harmon Cemetery, 10 a.m.; Davis Cemetery, 10:15 a.m.; Armstrong Cemetery, 10:35 a.m.; Pond Grove Cemetery, 10:55 a.m.; Montmorenci Cemetery, 11:15 a.m.; Burton Cemetery (Klondike), 11:30 a.m.; and Tippecanoe Memory Gardens at 11:40 a.m. "