Actor John Amos to join in Rolling Thunder motorcycle event
The Staff of Clutch and Chrome
May 14th 2008
Organizers of
the Rolling Thunder motorcycle event have announced support
from a well-known actor with his own military service
career.
John Amos,
long-time actor, activist and star of ABC's hit television
show Men in Trees will participate in Rolling Thunder's 21st
annual Memorial Day weekend activities and Sunday
demonstration in support of POW/MIA and veterans' issues,
May 23-25, 2008, in Washington, D.C.
Artie Muller, founder and national executive director of
Rolling Thunder, welcomed Amos's involvement. "To have a
person of John Amos's stature involved in Rolling Thunder
brings our mission to a whole new level of visibility
nationally," Muller said. "As a veteran, he understands the
need to keep POW/MIA and other veterans issues at the
forefront, particularly in a time of war, when everyone
wants the problem to go away. As long as even one of our
troops is unaccounted for, or if those who return are not
given the highest level of respect for their service,
Rolling Thunder will keep up its fight. We're glad to have
John Amos in there with us," he said.
 Amos
will lend his support to this year's event in a variety of
ways, including delivering a dramatic reading of Gen. Colin
Powell's "Letter to a Soldier" on Sunday afternoon, May 25,
at the Lincoln Memorial's reflecting pool. He will ride his
Harley-Davidson motorcycle from the Pentagon to the
reflecting pool with members of Rolling Thunder Inc.
National, as well as dignitaries and VIPs, as part of the
annual demonstration ride through the streets of Washington.
During the weekend, Amos will also be meeting privately with
the families of SSgt. Matt Maupin, as well as Pfc. Byron W.
Fouty and Sgt. Alex R. Jimenez, both captured May 12, 2007.
SSgt. Maupin's remains were recovered in Iraq in March,
after four years missing, and were returned to his parents
in his home state of Ohio.
Best known for his roles in TV's West Wing, Good Times, and
the miniseries Roots, Amos is also a Vietnam-era honorary
U.S. Coast Guard veteran and is a veteran of the N.J.
National Guard. On his breaks from TV and films, he devotes
his time to supporting veterans causes and to mentoring
children at risk throughout the U.S. and the world. A former
social worker, he is the founder the Halley's Comet
Foundation, a non-profit organization for kids of all ages
that uses sailing as a means to teach kids team work,
self-worth, and building a vision for success.
A long-time fan of country music, in late 2007 he released
his first country music CD featuring patriotic-themed songs
aimed at saluting the U.S. Armed Forces. His involvement in
Rolling Thunder came about through a chance encounter last
November at a Veteran's Day rally in Nashville. There, he
met Bob Ousley, president of Rolling Thunder Chapter 1
Tennessee, who invited him to participate in this year's
Memorial Day events.
"I spent time with Bob and his chapter members after the
rally and I was blown away by their passion and commitment
to the POW/MIA cause," Amos said. "People forget that for
families of troops left behind, there is no closure. Rolling
Thunder makes sure that the soldiers, sailors, airmen and
Marines who put their lives on the line are never forgotten.
I'm a veteran myself, so I'm only too happy to lend my name
and my presence to this effort," he added. |
