by Bill Maddick
VETERAN’ S CORNER
Colorado Veteran Related Motorcycle and Riding Clubs( 4)
During the past year we began this series of articles on veteran related motorcycle clubs and riding clubs and requested veterans club officers and members to help us bring to our readers what some of these clubs are all about and the work they do for veterans and charities. We anticipated two or three articles from the clubs— but the response has been phenomenal. Not only was the response to our request brought us more MCs and RCs than had been anticipated, but hearing the stories of all these clubs and what they do for veterans has been sensational, to say the least. These guys support each other and their own, contribute to other clubs, provide personal care to the needy, support assisted living centers, contribute to efforts such as homelessness, child abuse and cancer research and that is just the tip of the iceberg. This has turned into a series of articles about these clubs and there will probably be more coming in future issues. It has made me especially proud to be a veteran seeing all the things they do and the contributions they make, and we’ ve now been able to devote four editions to the cause.
As a standard disclaimer though, we mention that there is no rhyme or reason to the order in the order these clubs have been brought to our readers in these articles and there is no favoritism in the order and we only list those clubs interested in being in the articles and that we speak to directly. The list is basically first come first serve, we do not even bother to alphabetize we simply go by the order in which we were able to get in touch with people and put the clubs in print accordingly. As well, if you’ d like to be included herein, or if you happen to know anyone else who you think should be included in upcoming articles, please feel free to get in touch with me at billm @ thunderroadscolorado. com.
Special Forces Motorcycle Club It is likely that you may not have heard of these guys unless you were a Green Beret and it probably comes as no surprise that their membership is exclusive to those who either currently are or were members of the Green Beret. The Green Beret are a tight group and have earned honor for themselves from the Viet Nam era through Nicaragua and they continue to earn it in Afghanistan today and no doubt will continue to do so as we all march into the future with the motorcycle club carrying on the same tradition of honor and duty.
“ Archer,” the club President, recruited for the Green Beret out of high school, believes that the club is a true biker club and not just a riders club. As he notes;“ Duty and honor to country and each other is not something you take off with your patch jacket.” These guys continue to support each other, helping each other through bad times, picking up a member’ s downed bikes, taking care of someone who is sick and generally just conducting themselves with the solidarity and camaraderie of those forged by combat. That, of course is not all they do. They also sponsor the annual Commanders Run, held in May, which, by the way, is open to all. They have also marched in the St Patty’ s Day parade and they have and will continue to support all other veteran and military clubs with their causes.
Even though the membership is exclusive, Archer says that,“ We want to say some things to the public to [ help them ] better understand who we are and what we do.” So if you happen to be a member of the Green Beret who has not heard of the Special Forces motorcycle club yet, or if you are interested in what they do, pull up their web site at: http:// www. sfmctheoriginals. com /
Steel Soldiers Motorcycle Club There cannot be any better story for a group or club than to have started with Paul Sr. at Orange County Choppers and that is exactly how these guys came to be back in June of 2007 when OCC was in the middle of their popular hit show.
The National Guard thought that sponsoring a chopper would be good for both recruiting and retention and also a clever way to focus on motorcycle safety and awareness. So the National Guard contracted with OCC and created a contest to help come up with the design of a new bike.
Three motorcycle enthusiasts belonging to Joint Forces Headquarters( JFHQ) here in Colorado put together their concept and submitted their entry for the new motorcycle. Word came soon enough that Colorado’ s submission actually won the national contest. And dutifully, Paul Sr. and crew accepted the design and built the chopper( three of them, actually). You might remember the episode called“ Patriot Chopper!” That was the episode for the build.
Motivated by their success, the Colorado veterans decided to revive the“ Steel Soldiers” – a group of military veteran bikers that ride together and conduct several charity rides for veteran organizations each year. They have put together successful rides for the Bruce McCandless Veterans Home, the Colorado Military History Center, and most recently, they have teamed up to help Freedom Service Dogs in conjunction with Miller-Coors. They do it all for our veterans and their families; past, present and future. For more information give Chief David Vasquez a call at 720-284-4823( Chief has 39 years of continuous Army service under his belt). If you call, ask about his award winning beautiful custom bagger( Black Diamond) that he shows around Colorado too.
Green Knights Military Motorcycle Club The Green Knights began in 1999 when a couple of Airmen at McGuire AFB in New Jersey decided to organize base riders as well as host events for rider awareness and rider safety for those that do not ride. Their idea was to create an environment conducive to supporting the rights of riders and to help and support fellow riders as well as to hold charity events. So after gathering a small group as the core of founding members, it turns out that the by-laws they established, the policies they initiated and their mentorship initiative became a standard that is now used on almost every military base in the world. They currently boast 125 chapters worldwide, across all services, with some chapters in Ireland, Belgium, Croatia, Canada and Britain, primarily on Air Force Bases.
Don Wood, the President of the Buckley chapter, says that they“ are an amalgamation of everyone who rides on base.” Though the membership is primarily veterans, they accept anyone active or otherwise( the VP is active duty). And they hold the“ Snyder” run every June to commemorate Michael Snyder who was killed by a drunk driver. There are no dues to join and their meetings are held on the 2nd Friday of each month. For more info, call Don at 303-921-7208. Or check their web site at: http:// greenknightsmmc. org /
If your club would like to be included in future articles about veterans clubs, or if you happen to know anyone else who you think should be included in upcoming articles, please contact us at Thunder Roads Colorado at billm @ thunderroadscolorado. com. www. thunderroadscolorado. com March 2016 Thunder Roads Magazine ® Colorado 17