Rolling-thunder-nj3.org
Title
Rolling Thunder® - New Jersey Chapter III
Description
In the fall of 1987, in a little diner in Somerville, New Jersey, two Vietnam veterans met to discuss their personal concerns about the prisoners of war (POW's) and military service personnel missing in action (MIA's) from the Vietnam War. Having honorably served their country, and having taken an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies..." and to "...bear true faith and allegiance to the same," they were dismayed at how their brothers were left behind in captivity by the very leaders who sent them into battle, brothers who fought for America’s freedoms who then found themselves alone without anyone to fight for them. These two veterans discussed the more than 10,000 reported sightings of live Americans living in dismal captivity, which intelligence reports were generally ignored by the government and mainstream media. Those two veterans were Artie Muller and Ray Manzo.
The era of the Vietnam War was a dark time in our nation's history. The country became divided over issues of peace and war, and a distrust of government grew. In the years following, patriotism continued to wane as apathy and complacency set in. It was unfathomable for most that a civilized government such as the United States could knowingly leave their sons behind at the mercy of their cruel captors, or erroneously "kill on paper" those classified as MIA. Any talk of the government's failure to positively identify the remains of those killed or missing in action by deceptively returning misidentified bones to unsuspecting families only sounded of paranoia to most. It seemed that everyone wanted to ignore the facts and forget our heroes. That is, except for Artie and Ray.
Artie and Ray were ordinary men who understood they had a right to have their voices heard, so they proceeded to lay down the plans for a demonstration at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. during the 1988 Memorial Day weekend. They reached out to their families, fellow veterans and veterans' advocates to unify and form a march and demonstration in the nation's Capitol. They would announce their arrival with the roar of their Harley Davidsons, a sound not unlike the 1965 bombing campaign against North Vietnam dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder. So they would call themselves "Rolling Thunder," a title that would endure time and be trademarked in 1990. Word spread quickly and by Memorial Day weekend in 1988, approximately 2500 motorcycles from all over the country converged on Washington, D.C. to demand from our leaders a full accounting of all POW/MIA's. As they made their stand that day in front of the Capitol, Artie and Ray reflected on what they had accomplished that day and the support they received from their friends and other compatriots-in-kind who came to support the cause. This was Rolling Thunder's first demonstration, and only until all POW/MIA's are accounted for, it would not be their last. On that day, the foundation was laid for the annual "Ride for Freedom" to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall (also referred to as the "Ride to the Wall").
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