June
21, 2008
Berkeley, Calfornia
RumbleNews.com Online
Motorcycle News
Motorcyclists Ride in Support of American Troops
Photographs and story (c) "Shovelhead" Norton Patty
A well organized group of motorcyclists, from groups such as the Patriot Guard
Riders, as well as independent riders, met in Emeryville, California. We had a
Motorcycle Police escort to downtown Berkeley to show our support of the Marine
Corps and all of the courageous men and women who have made, or are willing to
make the ultimate sacrifice for what they believe in.
We parked our motorcycles in a special area set aside in front of the Ace
Hardware Store, who also loaned their employee parking lot to accommodate
motorcycles. This family owned Berkeley Ace Hardware store supplied the
motorcyclists iced bottled water and coffee. The son of the owner, Jamie, and
his wife, Brandy, made Support
The Troops signs they placed in the store
windows, and watched our motorcycles the whole day while we joined other bikers
in front of the Marine Recruiting office. This one family has owned that same
hardware store at that exact location for 63 years.
In front of the Marine Recruiter's office,
anti-war protesters,
dressed in either pink or orange colored clothing, chanted and held signs. The
Berkeley police carefully kept the protesters and the bikers separated for
throughout the day. Bikers
traded twenty dollar bills for ten two dollar bills, and spent them in the local
community to show that we were contributing to the local economy by our presence
to support of the Marine Recruiting Office. I bought twenty dollars worth of
fresh baked cookies, and handed them out to anyone who wanted them. There was a
wonderful sense of camaraderie, much back slapping, hand shaking, saluting,
laughing, hugging, and general good will among the many motorcyclists who came
to support the Marines. Groups of motorcycles were parked everywhere within a
several block radius of the Marine's office. Almost all of the motorcycles were
Harley Davidsons. My little classic blue 1981 R65, with its black quilted
leather tank cover, was the lone BMW I saw among all of the motorcycles.
A handful of protesters rode pink decorated bicycles around the block, their
hands flashing peace symbols, and they were dressed in frivolous pink colored
rags. There was an occasional shouting match, but for the most part, there was
actual conversations between the pink clad protesters and the Marine's
supporters.
The orange clad protestors seemed more aggressively hostile than the more warm
and friendly, often rather silly, pink adorned ladies. Orange clad protestors
chanted slogans and held signs, but did not seem interested in actual dialogue
with the community or the bikers.
The Berkeley Police did an admirable job of crowd control, and did not seem to
have any prejudice in favor of one side or the other of the factions present.
It was a wonderful opportunity for exerctizing our Freedom of Speech, a right
paid for by so many young men and women in the United States military, who died
to believing it was worth making he ultimate sacrifice in service to our country
to protect the Constitutional Rights of all Americans.
