The Monday, May 26 unveiling and dedication of a memorial to the casualties of the Vietnam War yielded what was arguably the largest Memorial Day gathering in the brief history of Veterans Memorial Park in Chesapeake Beach. The obelisk-like marker is now a part of the park, thanks to the efforts of the Nam Knights Motorcycle Club Old Line Chapter.
“What a heartwarming turnout,” said Chesapeake Beach Mayor Bruce Wahl, who recalled initial meetings with the group of bikers. “We’ve become brothers.”
The Nam Knights were started in New Jersey in 1989 by a group of Vietnam combat veterans who were police officers and Harley Davidson riders. Today the club has nearly 60 chapters in the U.S. and Canada, including one based in Chesapeake Beach.
Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. [D-District 27] told the audience he became acquainted with several Nam Knights several years ago when he sponsored a bill to establish a Vietnam veterans’ memorial in Maryland. The monument, which is located at Middle Branch Park in Baltimore, pays tribute to the over 1,000 Marylanders who didn’t come home from the conflict.
Of the new memorial in Chesapeake Beach, Miller declared, “this is downhome, folks.”
Current Nam Knights Old Line Chapter President Mark “Rocky” Roccapriore said the club members aim ‘to recapture the brotherhood and help all brothers who aren’t able to help themselves. We get involved in a lot of community events—pretty good for a bunch of greasy bikers.”
Roccapriore commended one of the chapter’s longtime leaders, Ray “Bomber” Nieves, with making the push to get the monument made and placed at Veterans Park. “He took the lead and made it happen,” said Roccapriore, who added Nieves recently earned the status of “life membership” within the club. “It’s well-deserved.”
Nieves addressed the crowd as well, at first enthusiastically exhorting everyone to applaud all the Vietnam veterans in attendance, and then somberly recalling the death of his cousin during the conflict.
It was two years ago Nieves and other chapter members approached town officials with a proposal to have the memorial made and placed in the local park.
“This Memorial Day is special,” he said. “The community has shown it will never forget.”
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