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| History of Rolling Thunder® |
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Like Grunts in the Long Mud |
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By
Linda Bordner U.S. Veteran Dispatch Staff Writer March 2001 |
By 1995,
Rolling Thunder support reached
such proportions that it gained
incorporation status. Muller and
Don Luker made the organization
officially non-profit and the
national chapter became reality.
State chapters burst up across America in rapid fire the following year. All positions were deliberately set up as non-paid, voluntary status. By definition, each charter agrees to help vets in need from all wars or conflicts, and adhere to the strict ethics of volunteer-based practice.
State chapters burst up across America in rapid fire the following year. All positions were deliberately set up as non-paid, voluntary status. By definition, each charter agrees to help vets in need from all wars or conflicts, and adhere to the strict ethics of volunteer-based practice.
According to Muller, winning government approval for the POW/MIA postage stamp in 1995 marked an important triumph for the group. But the more members joined in the cause, the more work there was to be done. They learned political hardball knows no fair play.
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Muller says that Rolling Thunder members,
led by Ted Shpak (Rolling Thunder
legislative representative) and John
Holland, sweated word for word on a bill
known as the Missing Service Personnel Act
of 1993. The bill was to guarantee that the
government could not arbitrarily kill on
paper missing servicemen without credible
proof of death.
Muller said they were absolutely stunned to later see a bill they all had worked so hard on literally gutted by Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam vet and former prisoner of war.
But like grunts in the long mud, Rolling Thunder volunteers never stopped pushing.
It took two more years, but by 1995, in an effort to revive the original intention of the 1993 bill, the grunts had put together 20 resolutions to create the Missing Personnel Act of 1995. In 1997, despite McCain's efforts to again sabotage the bill, 13 of the 20 resolutions passed intact.
Meantime, each Memorial Day weekend Rolling Thunder run broke the previous year's attendance record. Year by year the numbers of state Rolling Thunder chapters continued to rise. When bikers revved up their cycles for the millennium 2000 run, the echo from the thundering bikes was heard for miles. That run marked several milestones in Rolling Thunder's proud history.
The astounding 250,000 in attendance equaled a full hundredfold increase over the first year's tally. That fact alone amazed both detractors, who thought by now the crusty vets would surely have lost interest and concern for their missing men in arms, and supporters, who hoped against hope that by century's end, America would have honestly accounted for its missing servicemen.
The year 2000 run gained a higher profile by the presence of Miss America, Heather French, who dedicated her reign to homeless veterans. She took her pageant platform championing veterans' rights seriously. When the bright-eyed beauty led the Rolling Thunder ride with her Vietnam vet dad Ron French, she brought even greater public focus to the cause she cared about.
Members note that TV media coverage of the annual event had also grown from a mere 4 1/2 seconds the first year to 4 1/2 minutes for the 2000 ride.
Although less than five minutes in the spotlight might not seem like a lot, in media terms, that's a whopping piece of press pie.
Generally ignored by mainstream press is Rolling Thunder's stand that since the end of Vietnam War, over 10,000 reports of sightings of live Americans in bleak captivity were documented. They cite an ominous tradition in the fact that since Soviet-U.S. relations blossomed, reports were unearthed that live Americans remained in Soviet prison camps after World War II.
American POWs of the Korean War era fared no better, according to many official documents, Korean War vets were also left in captivity after that dismal war. No wonder, the vets claim, that an organization based on and for advocacy of the average serviceman was so badly needed.
Muller said they were absolutely stunned to later see a bill they all had worked so hard on literally gutted by Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam vet and former prisoner of war.
But like grunts in the long mud, Rolling Thunder volunteers never stopped pushing.
It took two more years, but by 1995, in an effort to revive the original intention of the 1993 bill, the grunts had put together 20 resolutions to create the Missing Personnel Act of 1995. In 1997, despite McCain's efforts to again sabotage the bill, 13 of the 20 resolutions passed intact.
Meantime, each Memorial Day weekend Rolling Thunder run broke the previous year's attendance record. Year by year the numbers of state Rolling Thunder chapters continued to rise. When bikers revved up their cycles for the millennium 2000 run, the echo from the thundering bikes was heard for miles. That run marked several milestones in Rolling Thunder's proud history.
The astounding 250,000 in attendance equaled a full hundredfold increase over the first year's tally. That fact alone amazed both detractors, who thought by now the crusty vets would surely have lost interest and concern for their missing men in arms, and supporters, who hoped against hope that by century's end, America would have honestly accounted for its missing servicemen.
The year 2000 run gained a higher profile by the presence of Miss America, Heather French, who dedicated her reign to homeless veterans. She took her pageant platform championing veterans' rights seriously. When the bright-eyed beauty led the Rolling Thunder ride with her Vietnam vet dad Ron French, she brought even greater public focus to the cause she cared about.
Members note that TV media coverage of the annual event had also grown from a mere 4 1/2 seconds the first year to 4 1/2 minutes for the 2000 ride.
Although less than five minutes in the spotlight might not seem like a lot, in media terms, that's a whopping piece of press pie.
Generally ignored by mainstream press is Rolling Thunder's stand that since the end of Vietnam War, over 10,000 reports of sightings of live Americans in bleak captivity were documented. They cite an ominous tradition in the fact that since Soviet-U.S. relations blossomed, reports were unearthed that live Americans remained in Soviet prison camps after World War II.
American POWs of the Korean War era fared no better, according to many official documents, Korean War vets were also left in captivity after that dismal war. No wonder, the vets claim, that an organization based on and for advocacy of the average serviceman was so badly needed.
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