Q&A with Buster Hickam

Residence: Kathleen

Chapter president, Rolling Thunder Chapter 3 — Georgia

Q: When was Rolling Thunder started locally?

A: In 2011. Our focus isn’t just to be a veteran’s organization but to be one that advocates for POWs and MIAs and their return. Sometimes that means penetrating Washington, D.C., to accomplish our goal of bringing home MIA’s remains or even finding POWs that might still be captive.

Q: Are there many POW/MIAs still unaccounted for?

A: Eighty-three thousand. Just over 70,000 of those are from World War II with most of the rest from the Korea, Vietnam and Cold War eras. Many of the World War II MIAs are in unmarked graves all around the world.

Q: What about more recent Afghanistan and Gulf conflicts?

A: We’ve certainly had POWs and MIAs in the Gulf and Afghanistan wars but back in the day, in earlier wars, when an individual became missing — was shot, killed or not confirmed killed — it was policy to carry on with the mission. After three days of retracing your steps to recover them the mission continued and it became a matter of we’ll find them later if we can. World War II was that way; Korea and Vietnam the same. The main thrust was the mission. Today, accountability for soldiers is part of the mission.

Q: So finding those missing is a priority as of the Afghanistan-Gulf wars?

A: You’ve heard those who served in World War II called the Greatest Generation, and I’ll give them that. But they were also the commanders of the Korea and Vietnam era soldiers and they adopted the same continue with the mission policy. Many more were lost. It was in the Vietnam era and after that awareness really arose over POWs and MIAs. People wore bracelets for them, a flag was made, and now soldiers from that era are in command and their practicing what was not practiced back in their day. Now, the policy is you go after the missing.

Q: A big part of Rolling Thunder is raising awareness. How do you go about that?

A: Our riding motorcycles is part of that. We’re not mainly a motorcycle club — we ride to draw attention to our cause. You don’t have to ride to be involved.

Q: But you do have big motorcycle rallies, right? Big events?

A: We do. One is over the Memorial Day weekend when multimonth rides culminate for an event in D.C. But it’s not like Sturgis or Panama City or big bike gatherings where it’s just a huge party. While we’re in Washington we visit Congress and meet with representatives and senators for a heart-to-heart. That weekend we do things like have a vigil at the Vietnam (Veterans) Memorial Wall and a time where MIA families are honored and kids get to get on our bikes, put on our vests and stuff like that. We let them know we appreciate and remember them.

Q: Locally, what are some things you do?

A: A big thing is we promote flying POW/MIA flags. It’s as a remembrance and for awareness and education. We’re very grateful that through donations we’ve supplied POW/MIA flags that are flying at Houston County’s schools. Many donating businesses are flying the flags themselves and a couple even had to put up new flagpoles to do it. We encourage flags be flown everywhere possible. At schools, they’re good because students can ask, “What’s that?” and find out. We also have what we call a Chair of Honor program where a special, empty chair is dedicated and sits waiting for the return of an MIA. There’ll be one dedicated at the new Freedom Field at the game Sept. 9. We’re working on getting one at McConnell-Talbert Stadium and we’re working to place them elsewhere, like at Mercer.

Q: Do you have them in other locations besides sports fields?

A: There are other chairs out there, like at Warner Robins City Hall and we have approval for them to be placed at Houston County’s Perry and Warner Robins’ government offices. We’re working toward getting them at all the area city halls. POW/MIA stickers are going on Warner Robins police and fire vehicles and we’re working on a project to have flags up and down Watson (Boulevard) and Russell (Parkway). We’d love to cover the place with flags because we need to remember and we need to work to bring MIAs home.

Q: How can someone contact you about getting involved or finding out more about Rolling Thunder’s work? Or what if they want a flag or want to donate to put one somewhere?

A: Emailing us at rolling.thunder.ga3@gmail.com works.

Q: You’re a veteran yourself, right?

A: Army veteran.

Q: How many members are there locally?

A: Twenty-seven.

Q: What are other things you do? What things motorcycle related?

A: We have rides, take part in parades, motorcades and other events, plus we escort returning MIAs home for their families. There’s also the Ride Home event we take part in where riders meet at the national cemetery and National Prisoner of War Museum at Andersonville. About 300 gather for the weekend and it’s outgrowing the town of Andersonville and nearby communities so for 2017 we are working to have the weekend hosted here in Warner Robins with a ride over there.

National POW/MIA Recognition Day 2016 is Sept. 16. A POW/MIA recognition ceremony is set for Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. at the Museum of Aviation’s Hangar One.

This story was originally published September 4, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Q&A with Buster Hickam."