Organizers for the annual motorcycle ride through Washington, D.C., said the event will begin at RFK Stadium on Memorial Day weekend after the Defense Department denied the group’s request to start at the Pentagon, citing coronavirus concerns.
The Defense Department’s rejection left AMVETS’s plans for the ride in jeopardy, giving organizers only a matter of weeks to restructure an event that normally takes a year to plan.
“It has been incredibly difficult — well beyond anything any of us, I think, could’ve comprehended,” Joe Chenelly, AMVETS’s national executive director, told WJLA on Tuesday.
Chenelly’s group criticized the Pentagon‘s slow decision-making process. AMVETS applied in July to use the Pentagon parking lot on May 30, he said, adding that he was anticipating an answer by January.
REPUBLICANS WANT PENTAGON TO ALLOW PERMIT FOR ANNUAL VETERANS MOTORCYCLE RIDE
AMVETS is new to hosting the annual ride, now called Rolling to Remember.
Previously called Rolling Thunder, the former organizers ended the 32-year streak of Memorial Day rides in 2019, citing expenses as one of the main reasons for canceling the tradition.
Former Army Sgt. Artie Muller, a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran and co-founder of Rolling Thunder, said that staging the event costs around $200,000, including a $30,000 fee charged by the Defense Department when the group parked at the Pentagon, he told Military.com.
During previous rides, the event has amassed between 50,000 and 100,000 motorcyclist participants each year.
The event has long aimed to raise awareness for American prisoners of war as well as veteran suicide.
AMVETS maintains around 250,000 members and said it would be taking over the Memorial Day event after Rolling Thunder had its last ride two years ago.
Roads will be closed for several hours during Sunday’s drive, including sections of Interstate 395 and Independence, Constitution, and Pennsylvania avenues.
The group will begin events Friday evening with a candlelight vigil at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to AMVETS for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
