Yep, that’s right. My dad is a Rolling Thunder. He is also a retired gunnery sergeant who escaped death when blown out of a Jeep in Vietnam. Faithful to the Corps, he devotes much of his time to causes that benefit our military men and women. He recently participated in The Ride Home with Rolling Thunder NC Chapter 5. Rolling Thunder is the Veterans’ voice of concern for American soldiers listed as Prisoners of War (POW) or Missing in Action (MIA). “The Ride Home” is an annual pilgrimage that recognizes and honors our nation’s POWs and MIAs. This year it was held in Andersonville and Americus, Georgia on Sept. 19-22.

The following is the first part of my dad’s account of The Ride Home. A special thank you goes to John Incata who graciously permitted us to use his photos and Aneisa Holmes, from the Jacksonville Daily News, who videotaped the send off.

Journal of “The Ride Home” 2009

by GY SGT JOHN FERGUSON (RET) USMC

September 17, 2009

I had been looking forward to The Ride Home event for months. The day finally arrived for us to leave. It started early for me. Up at 4:00 a.m. to meet fellow members of Rolling Thunder Chapter NC-5 at New River Harley-Davidson in Jacksonville, NC. The staff at New River HD fed us a hardy breakfast of pancakes, muffins, orange juice & coffee. Chapter President Paul Levesque reviewed a few items with us, and then DJ gave the blessing.

My F350 Ford PU King Ranch was the Chapter’s appointed support truck. It carried essential tools, extra gas and supplies along with a lot of luggage. It was also a chase vehicle for the ride down and back, so I had to pull my bike on a trailer to and from Georgia.

At 6:00 a.m., kickstands were up, and about 34 riders took off with a roar.

Although we left in the dark, it turned out to be a good day of riding until we hit the Georgia line. Then we had two hours of driving rain with poor visibility.

When we stopped for fuel everyone agreed  that the rain was tears from heaven for POWs and MIAs that couldn‘t make the trip.

After 600 plus miles, with stopping about every 130 miles, we arrived at the motel in Americus, GA around 8:30 p.m.  After checking in and freshening up, we met in the dining hall for dinner.  Then back to the room for a good night’s rest.

[To be continued. Part 2 coming soon.]