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What creates the intertwining threads between military service and motorcycling? It's a topic that could fill a book, not just a paragraph.
But a couple of years ago, Patrick Shartzer, co-founder of the veterans and first responders resource group for employees at Comoto, parent company of J&P Cycles and RevZilla, offered a simple and straightforward thought: "Veterans fought for freedom. What gives the biggest feeling of freedom? Motorcycles."
Memorial Day is for remembering the fallen. In the very earliest days of Common Tread, we published a moving account of the last national Rolling Thunder ride in Washington, D.C., from the unique perspective of a woman rider who also happens to be an immigrant to the United States. Sometimes a new perspective reminds us of what we take for granted, and in this case the experience moved her to tears.
One way to honor fallen veterans on Memorial Day — and every day — is to attend to their comrades, the living. Maybe you'll find some of these stories written about and by veterans are appropriate reading this Memorial Day.
A few years ago on Veterans Day, we published a first-person piece by Drew Faulkner about how his wife's decision to buy him a motorcycle after he returned from six years in the military was the key to allowing a "functional recluse" ease back into civilian society and make "the journey from pain to salvation."
His story is not unique. We've seen plenty of examples of how motorcycles can have a healing effect for veterans and we've written about some of them here. We got some insight from Chris Diaz, a veteran, a psychologist, and a motorcyclist, about how the Motorcycle Relief Project helped veterans making the radical shift from military life to civilian life. We also wrote about the Veterans Charity Ride, another non-profit that uses motorcycles as therapy.
RevZilla's support for the feature film "Where The Road Ends", an account of four veterans on an epic ride from the Arctic Circle to the southern tip of South America, is another example of our involvement with those who served.
Last Memorial Day, we posted a first-person account by J&P Cycles employee Bruce Safron explaining how he joined a motorcycle club and found the sense of belonging, unity, and camaraderie he missed from his days in the military.
Those are just some of the veterans' stories we've told over the years at Common Tread. For many riders, Memorial Day is when the riding season hits top gear, a weekend for group rides and fundraisers and other activities that officially kick start summer. Along with that, of course, it's time to remember the real meaning of the holiday, and while we think of those lost, we also remember the living, and extend a hand. Or join them for a ride.
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