WASHINGTON, May 30 (UPI) -- Thousands of motorcyclists converged on Washington, D.C., Sunday for an annual pilgrimage, known as Rolling Thunder, dedicated to missing veterans and prisoners of war.
The meeting, conducted since 1988 on the Sunday prior to Memorial Day, has grown to the point that over one million riders and spectators were expected this year, its organizers said. Bikers assembled early Sunday morning at the Pentagon, in Arlington County, Va., before rumbling across bridges spanning the Potomac River to Washington's Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in a "Ride for Freedom." In a city accustomed to parades and other civic celebrations, it is a singular, colorful and noisy event.