NORTH CHICAGO — Members of Illinois Rolling Thunder chapters invite all area motorcyclists to join them in the 35th annual nationwide Ride for Freedom starting at James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center on Sunday, May 28, 2023. No Entry Fee.

The purpose of the ride is to remind our government to keep searching for our 82,000+ missing service men and woman.

Riders will stage from 8:30 to 10 a.m. May 28, 2023

at the federal health care center, 3001 Green Bay Road, North Chicago. It’s kickstands-up promptly at 10 a.m. for the 54-mile, rain-or-shine ride, which will take participants past Hines VA Medical Center and on to Cantigny Park in Wheaton.

Wayne Kirkpatrick, a retired U.S. Army colonel who lives in Algonquin, said that while the location of the ride has changed, its focus remains the same. The ride — which for decades drew hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists from across the country to Washington, D.C., on Memorial Day weekend — is a reminder to all that the search is not over for more than 82,000 service men and women still listed as Missing In Action.

“We want to keep our POWs and MIAs top of mind,” Kirkpatrick said. “From all wars, more than 82,000 U.S. service members are still missing. We have to be vigilant in ensuring that government funding continues to be set aside for the recovery, repatriation and proper burial of these patriots. We owe them that. We owe it to their families..