Rising costs and increasing difficult logistics issues have doomed the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle tribute to veterans, signaling the end one of Washington D.C.’s most iconic Memorial Day events.
Since 1987, thousands of U.S. veterans and motorcycle enthusiasts have descended on the nation’s capital for the annual Rolling Thunder memorial ride, honoring U.S. prisoners of war and those still missing in action.
National organizers announced Thursday that 2019 would be the last time Rolling Thunder would be held in Washington. NBC Washington first reported news of the cancellation.
Organizers blamed logistical hurdles set by the Pentagon police and the associated costs for staging the event as the reasons for the cancellation. In past years, riders would gather at the Pentagon’s massive parking families, before taking off on the parade route through the city, ending the ride near the Lincoln Memorial and Vietnam War Memorial.
But this year, Pentagon police refused to allow a large portion of the Rolling Thunder riders into the department’s parking lots.
“We had so many problems in the last two or three years with the [Pentagon police] and the parking facilities after we leave the Pentagon parking lot,” Rolling Thunder, Inc. board member Gus Dante D.C. radio news station WTOP.
“And then it came to a boil this year when, the south lot, we had not one motorcycle. In the year before we had 10,000 bikes,” Dante said.
“In the main lot, they were being turned away,” he added, noting event organizers had already spent $60,000 to rent the parking space at the Pentagon.
While the national ride has been canceled, Rolling Thunder officials say local motorcycle clubs and other veterans organizations plan to hold separate, scaled-down rides in Washington during next year’s Memorial Day holiday.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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