Rolling Thunder

Its Sunday morning, we make our way through Arlington to the Pentagon parking lot for staging in the Rolling Thunder Parade. As we roll into the lot to join the other thousands of bikes with the Pentagon building providing an awesome backdrop, one cannot help but feel a lump in the throat at the sight of such a gathering.

As the morning continues on, thousands of bikes are constantly arriving. We have been here for 4 hours and they are still pouring in. An amazing outpouring of support and participation. Our total staging time was 5 hours. However, the time goes by amazingly fast. There plenty of places in the shade to rest and visit with other participants. For many of us veterans it affords a great opportunity for us to move about and meet other vets. Many times I have met other vets that had served in Vietnam at the same time and in some of the same areas where I had. And of course that has led to the sharing of many stories and experiences. It is impossible to put into words the connecting and bonding that takes place in that staging area each year. There is no doubt there has been much healing take place there.