I had thought you were an educated man, but your article shows you are just a small man prejudiced against motorcyclists. If you knew how to read the newspaper, you would have known that most of the riders in that long parade had served in the military, had been injured in the service, or knew someone either in the military or who had died serving their country.

More veterans could be found at the Wall or other monuments, paying homage to their fallen brothers and sisters, not standing around looking at paintings.

Yes, art is important, but what good is it if you don't have the freedom to create it, or view it? Thanks to those motorcycle-riding vets whom you made derogatory comments about, you have the freedom to turn yourself into a horse's behind. Or to enjoy being lifted from the mishmash of life.

If loud noises really bother you, the next time your freedom is threatened, we'll be sure to leave you alone!

You people have not a clue! I read through the first section of letters and the ignorance amazes me. And you people claim to be better than bikers? First of all, even though many of the riders there may not have been vets themselves, many of them have fathers, brothers, uncles, mothers, sisters, aunts, etc. who are or were. I personally had five friends that attended and one was a vet, two others were his niece and her husband and the other two were friends who went along to support him. Secondly, we don't wear black leather to look scary or mean. Short of wearing a coat of armor, leather is one of the most protective things you can wear in case your in a spill to protect you from "road rash". Also, get your head out of the sand and look at the reality. Many bikers are lawyers, doctors, accountants and yes even radio personalities. Professionals like riding too! Finally, give credit were its due. Although I was not able to get the time off work to go, yes I too am a professional, I spent the last two weekends attending charity rides in Illinois were I live. One was for supporting battered women shelters, another to raise funds for the young family of a 26 year old who died on his bike last year, and this weekend myself and three of my friends are attending "Wings" in Northern Illinois. It's another ride to support battered women. Hey Garrison, have you or any of your French art gazing buddies ever raised money for any worthy charity while standing around with your chin in your hand looking at artwork?

P.S. By the way, you'll notice I live in Illinois. That means that word of you comments has spread all the way here. With recent occurrences of radio hosts getting fired for making derogatory comments, I'd like to see whats going to happen to you.

If you're going to sneer at other people cause of their weight you might want to look in the mirror some time.

How wrong you are! Many of these "fat men with ponytails" DID serve and make this run to remember those who lost their lives. The sound of those motorcycles is a small comparison to hearing bomber planes, helicopters and gunfire and THAT is what you should realize. You should have been happy that patriots still know what memorial day really is for.

After seeing your paintings at the museum, did you go over to the VA hospital and put in some volunteer time??

...I have direct knowledge of some of these guys. It is true some are WWII era vets and some are Korean war and some are Vietnam era war. Mostly the last.

Some used their time as bikers to decompress among us who provided them a kind of sanctuary and haven of total and unconditional acceptance. We talked about their experiences only when they wanted to and otherwise we all enjoyed biking, nature and the comraderie, the brotherhood of bikers. None of these guys were suck-ups for anybody, much less the likes of pansies like Bush.

To a man none of them aggrandized war, not the least little bit. To a man they all though war was HELL.

Most of them though the Vietnam War was a mess and a total waste of time and lives, and which served no purpose.

Most of these Vets re-entered society and became contributing human beings, yet scarred forever by their war experiences. Some looked to the biker community as their band of brothers, stateside. Some were bikers forever and probably still are. Existing on the margins of our society. But at least they had a 'home' in our club and in the larger biker culture.

Being a Psychologist I coached our club members that they should just be natural and be good listeners., and let the guys just talk it out, and without constant ruminating. Webroke or interupted that cycle when we could. We redirected them in more positive pursuits. The simple act of listening was and is a powerful therapy. I told our club members that no one should expect themselves to be therapists. I was their back up. And especially since I was a counselor at the local VA hospital and volunteer.

We provided the Vets a companionship and we watched out for them. We dampened down any drinking and tried to stay aware of any suicidal words or deeds, behaviors or thoughts. We encouraged the Vets to keep up with their Psychiatrists and counselors and to keep taking their meds. Our club was a family club and we often had children with us on our rides. The kids were good for the Vets because children are fun and especially nonthreatening.

The upshot of all this is that we never lost a Vet, male or female. And quite amazingly the club members did a good job and did a decent thing. Plus they themselves got a first hand look at the results of the horrors of war and what it can do to a human being. I hope their children were saved by their participation in this process. We anchored the Vets lives in ways that added to what their families were trying to do and the VA was sometimes so poor at doing. We did it in real life.

God bless them all.