Rolling Thunder Florida Chapter 11. …
Rolling Thunder® XXIII
Rolling Thunder Florida Chapter 11 from Valrico departs for the annual Demonstration Ride in Washington, DC May 27
Rolling Thunder®, Inc. was incorporated in 1995 as a class 501(c)(4) non-profit organization with over 88 chartered chapters throughout the United States with members abroad. While many members of Rolling Thunder are veterans, and many ride motorcycles, neither qualification is a prerequisite. Rolling Thunder members are young and old, men and women, veterans and non-veterans. All are united in the cause to bring full accountability for POWs and MIAs of all wars, reminding the government, the media and the public by our watchwords: “We Will Not Forget.”
WWI – 3,349
WWII – 78,621
Cold War – 120
Korea – 8,124
Vietnam – 1,728
Iraqi Freedom – 1
Enduring Freedom-1
Florida has 11 Chapters. The newest was Chartered and Incorporated in January and serves the Tampa Bay area. Chapter 11 holds monthly public meetings at 10 AM the 1st Saturday of every month at the Horizon Church Log Cabin, 1720 South St Cloud Ave, Valrico.
The Chapter has made a significant impact on area veterans by participating in various Christmas toy runs organized by area veteran motorcycle clubs, participating in several fundraising activities to raise money for wounded veterans and 1st responders, participating in 3 escort rides for fallen heroes, sponsoring a Wounded Warrior Ride to escort two wounded warriors to Ft Myers, where they were the guests of honor at a fundraiser for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation and held four POW appreciation ceremonies to honor former POWs. Chapter 11 has also participated in two funeral escorts for former POWs and will man the hospitality suite at the American Ex-POW State Board Meeting Sun, May 16 at the TradeWinds Island Resorts on St. Pete Beach
Part of the Rolling Thunder Mission Statement is to educate the public about the POW/MIA issue. Rolling Thunder would like to see a POW/MIA Flag flying under the American Flag whenever the stars and stripes are flying as a reminder to the public that we are at war and we have American Servicemen being held in captivity. Chapter 11 is responsible for the POW Flag flying over Raymond James Stadium. America has one POW in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. However, we can’t forget we left over 91,000 on the battlefield from previous conflicts whose families deserve closure.
Saturday, 7 May Rolling Thunder, Florida Chapter 11 will be riding to Arcadia to support the family of Sgt James H. Alley, USAF whose remains were recently positively identified by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). His tour in Vietnam started in 1971. Sgt Alley was assigned to Detachment 3, 600th Photo Squadron, Da Nang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam and flew numerous high risk missions documenting the activities of HH3 search and rescue aircrews. With less than 2 weeks remaining in the Air Force, Sgt Alley was instructed to return to the 601st Photo Flight at Ubon RTAF, Thailand. As he was preparing to board an aircraft to take him out of the combat zone on 06 APR 72, a call was made for volunteers to fly a high risk search and rescue mission in 1st Corps. With no regard for his personal safety, Sgt Alley picked up his equipment and boarded the departing helicopter with 5 other crew members of the “Jolly Green 67″. During the mission, which was attempting to pick up an EB66 crew member (better known as the call-sign “BAT21″, which a book and movie were made of the same name) was downed in enemy territory, the helicopter received several heavy hits from the ground, burst into flames and crashed at 1740 hrs, with no survivors.
For each of the last 23 years Rolling Thunder has organized an annual demonstration ride to Washington DC. It’s been called “The Ride to the Wall” or simply Rolling Thunder. The purpose of the annual demonstration is to remind our elected officials that we hold them accountable for every soldier left on the battlefield. “We will quit when they all come home”. The annual demonstration drew 2,500 bikes that first year in 1988. Now that number exceeds 500,000 and draws over 1 million people into the capital. Bikers from all over the country converge on the Capitol Region starting Friday for the candlelight vigil Friday night. Even the Australian Viet Nam Vets have been known to ship their bikes to California and make the cross country trek to DC. Other nationalities can be see there as well. Saturday is reserved for visits with the Tragedy Assistance Program (TAPS) kids. These are children of fallen servicemen and women learning to cope with the loss of their parents. There are also visits to Arlington National Cemetery, Walter Reed and Bethesda Medical Centers for visits with the wounded, visits to the various Memorials and other sites. Ride Day is Sunday and a full program is planned. Sunday morning in the Pentagon parking lot has been described as a giant family reunion. Monday the capitol starts clearing out and getting back to normal.
Rolling Thunder Florida Chapter 11 plans to leave the Bob Evans Restaurant at the Northeast Corner of SR-60 and Falkenburg Rd in Brandon at 06:00, Thursday 27 May. 2 members will make the trip by auto-train, 2 by Recreational Vehicle and 7 by motorcycle. They will meet 4 members of Chapter 7 in Wildwood and Gainesville. They will remain overnight in Florence, SC and hope to arrive there by 6 PM. They will meet several members of the Special Forces Motorcycle Club in Florence and travel into Washington with them on Friday, 28 May.
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