Taking Back Memorial Day

As Memorial Day weekend approaches, I'm making room for Government Executive editor at large Bob Brewin to weigh in with his opinion on the weekend's events in Washington. Bob served in Vietnam as a field radio operator with 2nd Battalion, Ninth Marine Regiment and 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 1965-66. Here's his take:

Memorial Day used to be a time for solemn reflection and a quiet time to honor those who answered the nation's call to service -- especially those enshrined on the Wall at the Vietnam Memorial and honored in the serried ranks of simple graves at Arlington National Cemetery.

But not anymore. Instead, Washington has become the site of the world's largest single-day motorcycle rally, known as Rolling Thunder. This gathering will bring 400,000 motorcycles to the nation's capital this weekend, the majority ridden by folks who are not veterans.

Rolling Thunder has been shattering the quiet peace of Memorial Day weekend for the past 20 years, and it's time to call an end to it.

It is time for the National Park Service and the District of Columbia to stop issuing permits for this event -- which ensnarls the streets with obnoxiously noisy machines -- and return Memorial Day to the rest of us who want to remember and mourn in a quiet tribute.

I want to say hello to my friends memorialized on the Wall and trek over to Arlington without having to dodge the three day Rolling Thunder "tribute," which has become more hollow each year for the past 20 years.