“I’m proud to have a black POW/MIA flag right outside my office in Washington, D.C.  It
reminds me and everyone who visits that there are men and women risking their lives every day for our nation and our freedoms.  Prisoners of War and troops Missing in Action are some of the most difficult, and most sad, stories of valor in our military.

Some of those stories can never be told.  Some of them may never be known.

Likewise, in Arlington National Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknowns is our national memorial to the fallen whose names we do not know.  In the service of our nation, these anonymous Americans made the ultimate sacrifice.

There are many more fallen soldiers whose names we do know.  Some of them are friends of our families.  Some are grandparents or great-grandparents.  Some are aunts, uncles, or cousins – and some are brothers or sisters, sons or daughters.  We lost some of them long ago, and we have lost some of them, tragically, in recent months. 

On Memorial Day, we have ceremonies to attend, gatherings of remembrance, and many other opportunities to show our support for the families of the fallen.

At these events, we’ll hear our National Anthem as well as Taps.  Memorial Day ceremonies in Washington, DC, will also feature these and other patriotic melodies.  Our capital will also reverberate with the sounds of rumbling motors.

The same POW/MIA flags that fly outside my office will also fly from thousands of motorcycles revving their engines as they travel to national Memorial Day events around the city.  Their motorcycles will swell the city’s streets in a salute to all of those who proudly serve our country in uniform.  It’s a grand and inspiring sight to behold.  The riders come from all over the land and advocate for troops and veterans in many ways.

Year-round, Rolling Thunder is an active, non-profit organization.  More than half of its
members are veterans, men and women who have served our country and now constantly remind us of our duty to every POW, MIA and casualty of an American servicemember.

We in Southern Missouri were honored by the participation of so many Rolling Thunder members in the funerals of the young heroes who have returned from Iraq draped in the flag.  They helped us remember those whose lives were lost in Iraq in a unique, meaningful and memorable way.  Across the country, other chapters of Rolling Thunder have given shape to the grief we have felt at the loss of young men and women in the line of honorable duty.

There are no more important times than these to stand by the families of our men and women in uniform than when their loved ones are not with them.  On Memorial Day, we can be especially mindful of all those who have sacrificed for our nation, and those we may know who served in World War II, in the Cold War, in Vietnam, Korea, the Gulf War, in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world.

In our nation’s capital, next to the monuments to many of these conflicts and to the many brave Americans who lost their lives serving our country, a roar of rolling thunder will rise on Memorial Day, to assure these brave Americans are NEVER FORGOTTEN.”