by Chap Petersen

Yesterday Fairfax City celebrated the annual “Ride of the Patriots” rally at Patriot Harley Davidson in Fairfax City. 

A Memorial Day staple for 25 years in the City, the “Ride” is a fun way for ordinary citizens to connect with bikers, veterans and significant others who ride into our community from all points of the USA. The ride has gotten smaller over the years; in its heyday, we would have 10,000 bikes lined up on Lee Highway to go thundering down to the Pentagon — but the point and passion remain the same. Put simply, it’s about freedom. Yesterday morning, I had a chance to speak to the assembled crowd about “Heroes in our Community’.

The Fairfax High School boys who landed at Omaha Beach with the 29th infantry division; Sergeant James Robinson of Annandale, Virginia who won a posthumous Medal of Honor in Vietnam, Fairfax County Police Detective Vicky Armel (FHS’ 83) who was killed in the line of duty in 2006; and Lt. Col. Justin Constantine (FHS ’88) who survived a life-threatening wound in Iraq to live another sixteen years as an American hero.

The very best of our community.

Then there are the bikers and friends who come back every year to pay tribute. Their steadfast service has also made a difference, e.g. in changing the perception of Vietnam veterans who were ignored or even abused when they returned from that conflict. Their sacrifice, now honored, is reflected in our Vietnamese community in northern Virginia which is formed by thousands of families who came to the USA seeking freedom and finding it.

In the end, Memorial Day stands on two points: (1)  the United States is a great country which has been a force for good in the world, and (2) the men and women that died in its service did not do so in vain.

Enjoy this great weekend.

Chap Petersen is a Northern Virginia attorney and former Democratic state senator. This column is republished with permission from his blog The Virginia Attorney.