Holy water fell on Harleys when the Washington National Cathedral for the first time blessed motorcycles converging on the US capital for the 27th annual Rolling Thunder run.
Tens of thousands of motorcycles -- many ridden by US military veterans -- will roll Sunday into the National Mall, the nation's symbolic front yard, in a bold show of support for American prisoners of war and those missing in action.
The impressive rally takes place every year on the eve of Memorial Day, a national holiday that pays tribute to America's war dead.
More than 50 participating Harley-Davidsons came together Friday outside the neo-Gothic National Cathedral for an inaugural "Blessing of the Bikes" by its Episcopalian dean Gary Hall.
"We've got men and women who have served honorably who the United States government has left behind," said Mac MacDonald, a retired Marine now living in Virginia.
"We've got to make sure that everybody knows that those people are still out there," he told AFP alongside his 2008 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic.
More than 83,000 American service personnel remain unaccounted for, from World War II and Vietnam to the Iraq conflict, according to Defense Department data.
And there remains a US prisoner of war from the Afghan conflict -- Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a 28-year-old Idaho native held by Taliban forces since June 2009.
"We're here for him. We're here for all POWs and MIAs from all wars," said Diana Kinder-Conklin, a Rolling Thunder organizer in New Jersey whose father served in the US Air Force.
Holy water fell on Harleys when the Washington National Cathedral for the first time blessed motorcycles converging on the US capital for the 27th annual Rolling Thunder run.
Tens of thousands of motorcycles — many ridden by US military veterans — will roll Sunday into the National Mall, the nation’s symbolic front yard, in a bold show of support for American prisoners of war and those missing in action.
The impressive rally takes place every year on the eve of Memorial Day, a national holiday that pays tribute to America’s war dead.
More than 50 participating Harley-Davidsons came together Friday outside the neo-Gothic National Cathedral for an inaugural “Blessing of the Bikes” by its Episcopalian dean Gary Hall.
“We’ve got men and women who have served honorably who the United States government has left behind,” said Mac MacDonald, a retired Marine now living in Virginia.
“We’ve got to make sure that everybody knows that those people are still out there,” he told AFP alongside his 2008 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic.
More than 83,000 American service personnel remain unaccounted for, from World War II and Vietnam to the Iraq conflict, according to Defense Department data.
And there remains a US prisoner of war from the Afghan conflict — Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a 28-year-old Idaho native held by Taliban forces since June 2009.
“We’re here for him. We’re here for all POWs and MIAs from all wars,” said Diana Kinder-Conklin, a Rolling Thunder organizer in New Jersey whose father served in the US Air Force.
