Rolling Thunder Georgia-3 hosts fourth annual Remembering Heroes Ride

WARNER ROBINS – In honor of National POW/MIA Recognition Day, Rolling Thunder Georgia-3 hosted their fourth annual Remembering Heroes Ride on Saturday, Sept. 21.

This ride consists of veterans and members of the organization. Other riders included members of the Florida chapter and anyone who wanted to participate. This year, the ride started at the Museum of Aviation and headed towards Andersonville National Cemetery. 

Rolling Thunder is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1985 whose mission is to promote and advocate the prisoners of war and missing in action issue as well as support American veterans. According to Warner Robins chapter secretary and event coordinator Kristin Moriarty, there are 80 chapters across the nation and they are the only chapter in the state.

Moriarty said they try to ride to a different place every year, about 30 minutes to an hour away. This was the second time they have visited the cemetery.

“That’s the purpose of the ride, is to make a lot of noise and to gather people’s attention, saying, ‘What is that large group doing?’” Moriarty said. 

Moriarty also said there weren’t only motorcycles. There have been cars, jeeps, trucks, and slingshots; anything with wheels are welcomed to join the ride. 

Once they reach their destination, they hold a short but impactful ceremony. During the ceremony, they take the time to recognize at least 28 of the state’s missing in action. According to Moriarty, in the state, there’s over 1,200 soldiers who are missing in action from all wars, 82,000 nationally.

“When we started this, the reason why we picked 28 names only to read is because specifically for the Vietnam conflict, there are specifically 28 soldiers from Georgia missing in action,” she said.

After the first year, they’ve also incorporated World War II and the Korean War.

Along with reading their names, they conduct the Missing Men table and playing of “Taps.” 

“This is just basically to keep our former prisoner of wars and those who are currently missing in action at the forefront and making a promise that they will never be forgotten, and we will hold our government accountable until we bring the last one home,” Moriarty said. 

Moriarty said locally, only Rolling Thunder and Robins Air Force Base’s POW/MIA Memorial hosts a ceremony for the national holiday. The base holds their annual event on National POW/MIA Recognition Day, the third Friday of September.

Moriarty said Rolling Thunder wanted to hold their ride in conjunction with the holiday, which is why the event is held on the third Saturday of September.

She shared they wanted to bring more awareness because, sadly, warfighting generations are slowly passing away.

“We just need to make sure that they are at the forefront and their families as well, as their service is never forgotten,” Moriarty said. 

Over the years, the event has grown due to spreading awareness on social media. According to Moriarty, the first year it started with 50 participants and each year it has grown by 10 to 20 additional participants. 

She said this year they were excited about having an additional 20 participants from Rolling Thunder Florida, which has eight chapters. 

This was the first time the ride started at the Museum of Aviation. In the past, they have started at Broken Arrow Outfitters in Perry, Powersports in Byron last year and Striplings in Perry. 

The organization also donates their proceeds to a veteran’s organization every year. Registration was $25 per rider and five dollars for passengers. The fee includes a T-shirt, and they were also available for sale at the event.

Last year, they donated to the Middle Georgia Honor Flight Program, Moriarty said. This year, the proceeds will go towards the 21^st Century Partnership Care Package Program

The packages, consist of nonperishable foods, clothing items, toiletries, books and puzzles, which are then sent to deployed Robins Air Force Airmen and service members on base who don’t have family in the area. Moriarty hopes Rolling Thunder can increase the number of packages they will send.

This year, newly elected President of the chapter Kathy Jones teamed up with Retired United States Air Force Sgt. Neil Smith to start the ride at the museum. 

Moriarty said Smith was stationed at Robins Air Force Base and is a big part of the Robins POW/MIA Memorial, along with the Air Force Sergeant Association Chapter 404. 

Smith also hosts a local event honoring Prisoner of Wars and soldiers Missing in Action. A guest speaker shares his experience as a POW, and the event conducts the Missing Man table and Taps; at the end, a POW/MIA flag is presented to the Air Force Sergeant Association chapter. The event also features a 24-hour vigil run along the Robins Chief Group.

Once they completed the last lap, they passed the “flame of freedom” torch and POW/MIA flag to Rolling Thunder. They then escorted the flag to their ceremony at Andersonville.

Jones contacted Smith earlier this year and told him both organizations have the same mission and passion. She encouraged him to unite both their causes and host the events together. 

“There’s so much of a history there [Museum of Aviation] and it’s just perfect because it reflects our service men and women. There is a memorial dedicated to our POWs and MIAs there, it’s just all perfect and it came together. We’re so excited to team up with the organizations and bring more awareness,” Moriarty said. 

The event aims to bring awareness and, most importantly, remember those who sacrificed their lives for their country.

“These brave men and women, they signed an oath to serve and protect no matter what. They had no clue what to even expect or imagine when they said, ‘Okay we’re now deployed to war.’ They are the reason why we have the freedom that we do today,” Moriarty said. 

Moriarty also believes awareness is especially important for the 82,000 who are missing in action. That means they may still be in war conflict areas such as Vietnam, Germany, and Japan. 

“While some may say there’s lost hope, not with us there’s no lost hope. We’re here for these families because they need that closure, and we need to bring our service members home,” Moriarty said.

Moriarty shared a story that occurred last month. She said they had a Georgia missing in action soldier accounted for who was a private first class in the Army. His name was Luther Bagley, and he had been missing in action from World War II for 80 years. 

Bagley’s wife is still living and turned 100 earlier this month. Their son is still living at 80 years old. Bagley and his wife got married; the following year he went to service and boot camp. During that time, their son was born and Moriarty said he held his son for a couple of months before being deployed to World War II. 

He was never seen again until 80 years later when his remains were identified. Moriarty said Rolling Thunder attended their welcome home memorial service and Bagley is buried in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

“Just to see both the pain and the peace at the same time in Mrs. Bagley’s eyes and his son. I’ve got goose bumps on my arms right now every time I think about it, because they’re finally able to welcome him home and have that closure,” Moriarty said. “That worry is gone now of wondering if they will ever find him. That’s why this is important, that’s why we have to make this promise and make sure they all come home.”

To keep up with Rolling Thunder Georgia-3 visit their Facebook page. See below for more photos of the event.