D.C. Church to Bless Bikers on Annual Memorial Day Ride

A church in Washington, D.C. will be holding its annual "blessing of the bikers" event for a nonprofit group that visits the nation's capital every year via motorcycle to honor American soldiers on Memorial Day.

The Washington National Cathedral will hold its annual "Blessing of the Bikers" event on Friday for the Rolling Thunder nonprofit group, an advocacy group for American prisoners of war and soldiers who were pronounced "missing in action."

The Rolling Thunder group participates in the annual "Ride to the Wall" event on Memorial Day every year in Washington, D.C., where bikers depart from the Pentagon and ride through the city to get to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

A spokesperson for the Washington National Cathedral told The Christian Post this week that the Rolling Thunder's trip out to D.C. to honor fallen soldiers gives a special sense of remembrance to Memorial Day weekend.

"Rolling Thunder¹s presence at the Cathedral reminds us all we cannot fully recognize and honor the living without also remembering those who have been lost," Washington National Cathedral's director of programs Ruth Frey told The Christian Post.

"This event with Rolling Thunder is part of the Cathedral's ongoing initiative to recognize and pay tribute to veterans, to offer a sacred space for spiritual healing, and to educate the civilian public about the experience of veterans and the challenges they and their families face when returning home," said Frey.

Nancy Regg, Rolling Thunder's national spokeswoman, spoke to The Washington Times regarding the sentimentality of this weekend's motorcycle ride.

"It's not just a barbecue; it's about our veterans. This is Memorial Day," Regg told the media outlet. "I've been doing this for 19 years, and I still cry at least once. Yes, we have a good time, but there are a lot of people reuniting and getting the welcome home they never got, especially those from Vietnam. This is a brotherhood and a sisterhood. We are family."