Letter to Robert Candido, Building Manager of the Pentagon - Issa, Calvert Call for Swift Pentagon Attention to Permit POW/MIA Remembrance Motorcycle Ride

Letter

Dear Mr. Candido:

We write in support of the American Veterans (AMVETS) request to utilize the Pentagon parking lot as a necessary and logistically appropriate meeting location for "Rolling to Remember", the organization's Memorial Day Pro-Veterans Demonstration Ride set to take place on May 30, 2021.

For more than 30 years, tens of thousands of veterans attended the "Rolling Thunder" motorcycle rally over Memorial Day Weekend to bring attention to POW/MIA troops, as well as the vital cause of veterans we are losing every day to suicide. Also, for decades, the Pentagon allowed these veterans to gather in the Pentagon lot, offering the participants a pre-parade staging area to safely line up for the solemn processional ride from the Department of Defense to the war memorials at the National Mall.

We understand from AMVETS that this event required submission of permit requests and petitions for coordination be provided to a series of government agencies, including local law enforcement, the Department of Transportation, and the National Park Service. In July 2020, AMVETS followed this three-decade precedent in preparation for the 2021 ride. AMVETS reports that while the group received the necessary approval from the Pentagon last month, it was revoked days later.

The fundamental challenges are these: Less than six weeks remain until the event. And the Pentagon is the only entity to ignore AMVETS and has yet to issue a determination. This is unacceptable.

According to AMVETS, they have done everything asked of it. All that is missing is their traditional rendezvous point. We urge the Department of Defense to immediately review their request for permission for the use of the Pentagon parking lot so the cyclists can safely and appropriately honor our fallen and missing heroes.

Respectfully,

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