This next article is a sad one. It is one that shouldn't be written, because it didn't have to happen. We love you guys, and we need to you to stay alive. Not dead because some driver didn't see you. Do whatever you can to prevent these accidents. Please. NGAUS has the article.
Motorcycles Deadly for National Guard Soldiers in 2008.
Fifteen National Guard soldiers have been killed in motorcycle accidents this year, said the deputy director of the Army National Guard. That's already more than were killed in all of 2006.
That's one reason Maj. Gen James Nuttall rode the Guard’s Patriot Chopper at the front of Rolling Thunder on Memorial Day in the nation’s capital. He and the thousands of other motorcycle riders were honoring service members still missing in action from America’s wars. But he was also calling attention to motorcycle safety, decked out as he was in helmet, protective eyewear, gloves, proper footwear and a reflective vest.
Although the Patriot Chopper is designed as a recruiting tool, Nuttall said, “We use it to demonstrate that you can ride a cool motorcycle and still be safe.” Among Guard soldiers, sport bikes are the number one killer of those 26 years of age and younger. “It’s like training a soldier to go to war,” Nuttall said. “You wouldn’t send them in untrained, so why be untrained and unready when you’re out riding a motorcycle?”
The Memorial Day event was also a chance to remember the 515 National Guard soldiers killed since Sept. 11, 2001. "Those numbers are fairly representative of our participation in the war," Nuttall said. "That doesn't sound like a lot of people, unless it's someone close to you."
For the past 21 years, bikers from all over the country have joined the Rolling Thunder tribute ride through Washington. The bikers ride from the Pentagon to the National Mall.
Friday, June 6, 2008
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