Each year, thousands of motorcyclists descend on the National Capital Region during Memorial Day weekend to participate in the annual Rolling Thunder rally. Started in 1987, the event calls for the recognition of prisoners of war and those missing in action.
Maryland bikers Paul Barsamian and Neil Cotter volunteer each year to give Gold Star families the unique experience of riding through D.C. on the back of a motorcycle during the rally with other veterans.
More than two-dozen Gold Star mothers, some dressed in all white, others wearing shirts with pictures of the service member they lost, met Barsamian and Cotter in front of the Spates Community Center on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall May 24. They were then escorted by six Arlington County motorcycle police to the Pentagon parking lot, where the ride began at noon.
For these motorcyclists, the ride is more than remembering those who have fallen. It is an opportunity to recognize and appreciate the families of the fallen, said Cotter.
Barsamian has escorted Gold Star families during Rolling Thunder for 13 consecutive years; Cotter for 15. Both say escorting families of the fallen during the event "feeds the soul."
"Years ago someone told me some Gold Star moms were left in the parking lot because they didn't have enough rides for them," said Barsamian. "I didn't understand how they didn't have enough rides with all the bikes out there, so I made it my business to make sure that no Gold Star mom would be left in the parking lot again."
American Gold Star Mother Inc. National President Jennifer Jackman, who participated in the May 24 ride, said the Gold Star mothers were there to honor veterans from all wars, not only their own sons.
"This is a group that volunteers for veterans," said Jackman. "We have tense moments when Taps plays, but we aren't a pity-party group. We go out and remember our fallen with pride."
This year's Rolling Thunder event was the largest yet with more than 700,000 participants and spectators, according to a Rolling Thunder Inc. spokesperson.
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