Rolling Thunder motorcyclists visit the White House

[lucky wilbury]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/05/30/bush.motorcyclists.ap/index.html

Rolling Thunder motorcyclists visit the White House
Sunday, May 30, 2004 Posted: 9:26 PM EDT (0126 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Members of the Rolling Thunder motorcycling group revved their engines on the White House driveway Sunday during a visit with President Bush, who took about 10 bikers in jeans and leather jackets for an Oval Office tour.

The roar from bikers on the Mall nearby could be heard on the South Lawn as eight motorcycles, headlights illuminated and American flags jutting off the rear seats, rolled up the driveway to the South Portico where Bush was waiting to greet them.

Bush shook hands with Artie Muller, president of the veterans' advocacy group, and kissed Muller's rider, singer Nancy Sinatra, a veterans' supporter, who was dressed in a skirt, cowboy boots and a pair of dark shades.

Later, Bush addressed, via a telephone hookup, a Rolling Thunder rally at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in the capital.

The president noted the letter of endorsement he received from the group last week. "Artie, I thought you were going to offer me riding lessons," Bush joked, thanking Rolling Thunder for backing his re-election campaign.

"Ride safe," he told them.

Other bikers who rode up the driveway included White House budget director Josh Bolton, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi, and various Rolling Thunder leaders.

The group endorsed Bush in 2000 over Democrat Al Gore, a Vietnam veteran. This year, they chose Bush, who served stateside in the Texas Air National Guard during Vietnam, over John Kerry, a decorated veteran of the same war who is also a motorcycle enthusiast.

In November 2003, the Democratic presidential hopeful borrowed a Harley-Davidson cycle and road onto the stage of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

For the past 15 years, the group has announced its arrival with the roar of motorcycles -- not unlike the sound of the 1965 bombing campaign against North Vietnam that was called Operation Rolling Thunder.

Rolling Thunder is an organization dedicated to creating awareness of POW/MIA issues, promoting legislation to increase veterans' benefits, and volunteering time, food, and clothing to veterans and local communities. Rolling Thunder has 70 chapters and over 7,000 members throughout the United States and abroad.

"In the Oval Office, I looked you in the eye as you told me of your relentless pursuit of finding out the plight of many of our POW/MIAs, and I appreciated so much your concern, your care and your persistence," Bush told the rally. "I also want to thank you and your organization, Artie, for honoring the men and women of our military who fight today in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Gary Scheffmeyer, vice president of Rolling Thunder, said the president showed the group around his office, pointing out busts of presidents and paintings. Scheffmeyer said they chatted for about a half hour with Bush about the war in Iraq and terrorism. The bikers talked about veterans' health benefits and soldiers still missing from Vietnam.

"The search for live Americans continues in Southeast Asia," Scheffmeyer said. "There's still a possibility that there could be some live Americans there."

Bush began his day by attending a worship service at a church across the street from the White House.

[lucky wilbury]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...-2004May30.html

Focus Swings to Vietnam, With a Roar


By Lori Montgomery and Michele Clock
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, May 31, 2004; Page B01


A younger generation of war veterans swept into town yesterday, shifting the tone of the city's Memorial Day celebrations from the long-ago heroism of World War II to the still-raw wounds of Vietnam.

Clad in leather, astride gleaming Harleys, they trailed American flags and the black flags that honor U.S. prisoners of war and military members missing in action. With horns blaring and fists raised, they rode into Washington more than 400,000 strong, according to organizers of the 17th annual Rolling Thunder "Ride for Freedom," to pay homage to buddies who never made it home.

On the Mall, long lines of solemn visitors made the pilgrimage to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to find and touch the carved names of those they knew and loved.

"It took a lot to get the courage up to come down here," said Curt Steur, 54, a lanky former Marine from Bucks County, Pa., who served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. "To come down here and to see names on a granite wall, when you knew the people behind those names. . . ."

"It's rough," said his teary-eyed buddy, a hulking man in a camouflage jacket who had a wild reddish-white ponytail and gave his name only as Willy.

The Rolling Thunder event, a Memorial Day weekend tradition, dominated the heart of the nation's capital. Large crowds still flocked to the new National World War II Memorial, which was dedicated Saturday. Thousands more assembled last night for a concert featuring the National Symphony Orchestra on the Capitol's West Lawn.

But World War II veterans and concertgoers had to pick their way around barricades erected along major thoroughfares for Rolling Thunder's noon parade. And from the time the riders began assembling at the Pentagon at 7 a.m. until their final looping tour of the Mall late yesterday, their engines reverberated through the city, adding a low rumbling tone beneath the cicadas' high, incessant hum.

The riders will be out in force again today for Washington's first Memorial Day parade in more than 60 years. But yesterday's rally was the big event, made even more meaningful for many by an impromptu address by telephone from President Bush.

Bush also met at the White House with the leaders of Rolling Thunder, a nonprofit group dominated by Vietnam-era veterans but dedicated to veterans of all wars. With a special White House escort, the group's president, Artie Muller, and seven other riders were able to steer their bikes straight up to the South Portico, where a smiling Bush greeted them with a big thumbs-up and led them to the Oval Office.

Rolling Thunder, which claims 82 chapters in the United States and abroad, has endorsed Bush over the presumptive Democratic nominee, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), and the Bush campaign turned out to capitalize on that endorsement. Two members of Bush's Cabinet joined the Rolling Thunder parade: Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson, who showed up for his sixth Rolling Thunder ride decked out in black jeans, a black vest and black sunglasses.

Although Bush never saw combat and Kerry is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, many in the Rolling Thunder crowd demonstrated little affection for their brother-in-arms. As they rolled across the Memorial Bridge, around the Lincoln Memorial and down Constitution Avenue, bikers displayed signs reading "Stop Kerry" and "Vietnam Vets against Kerry."

In a written statement, Kerry's campaign said, "Nobody has worked harder on veterans and POW-MIA issues than John Kerry." The Kerry statement added that Bush is "misleading Rolling Thunder about his commitment to our veterans and military families."

Bob Nowak, 52, a retired Navy man from Aroda, Va., who did two tours in Vietnam, said veterans such as himself despise Kerry for his decision to protest the war in the early 1970s.

Nowak remembers returning from Vietnam in 1973 aboard an aircraft carrier loaded with thousands of sailors in their dress whites. "As we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, there were people waiting for us. And they threw garbage on us," Nowak recalled. "That was about the time Kerry was throwing his [ribbons] away. It's kind of hard to forget either of them."

Politics aside, Rolling Thunder was, as always, a loud, colorful scene. Motorcycles of all sizes paraded into position at the Pentagon starting before 7 a.m. Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd tunes blared, and a whiff of cigar smoke and engine exhaust hung in the air.

Many wore black T-shirts -- the "preferred, traditional color," said Don Schaible, 57, a retired police officer from Port Charlotte, Fla. -- as well as leather chaps, bandanas and vests covered in patches and pins. Some also wear earplugs, Gary M. Scheffmeyer, Rolling Thunder's national vice president, said amid the deafening roar of revving engines. But "most of us," he joked, "are just hard of hearing."

Bob and Jean Fernandes stood beside their candy-apple-red Honda Gold Wing trike motorcycle, taking in what they called the "overwhelming" scene. The couple -- both 72 and dressed in black leather vests and jeans -- drove up to 450 miles a day for 2 1/2 days from Tampa for their third Rolling Thunder ride.

"It's very emotional, very emotional," said Jean Fernandes, smiling. "When you're riding, the bystanders are blowing kisses and saying, 'We love you.' . . . They're throwing flowers and crying and we're crying."

Riding through Washington, Schaible said he feels welcomed in a way he never was when he returned from service in Vietnam.

"Every hair on your body stands up," he said. "As long as I'm alive, I'll be here."

[Viking]

The vet vote is running away from Kerry as fast as it can. I think Bush has opened up a 12-13% wide margin, and it's growing.

So much for that 'I served in Vietnam and you didn't' bullshit.

*CREAK* *SLAM* :D :killer: