NEW YORK—When Mike Palo was drafted for the U.S. Army in 1968, at first he considered running away to Canada, like many young men did at the time.
Three months later, he was fighting in Vietnam.
“I did my two years of service, then I got out,” Palo said.
Palo, now 65, tried for years to forget the horrors of war. He bought “muscle cars,” like his Dodge Challenger, and motorcycles.
“For me after being in the war, your adrenaline is pumping a lot. Believe it or not, you miss it when you are gone,” said Palo.
Palo avoided veterans’ organizations for years. He built a career developing computer systems for hospitals, including Maimonides in Brooklyn.
But eventually his love of motorcycles piqued his interest in the Nam Knights (Nam for Vietnam)—until he learned he couldn’t join without a Harley. The Honda Nighthawk he owned at the time wouldn’t cut it.
Rolling Thunder, on the other hand, didn’t require a Harley. He liked its annual run, where thousands of bikers descended on Washington, D.C. on Memorial Day weekend to draw attention to the American prisoners of war who had been left behind in Vietnam. Rolling Thunder estimates their numbers at 10,000 but official estimates are much lower.
Palo became a founding member of the Chapter 1 NY in 1997. He enjoys the camaraderie.
“We are not a motorcycle group, or a motorcycle riding group, or anything else other than veterans. We are veterans that like motorcycles,” Palo said. “We are not the one percent who rob, plunder, and rape.”
