GREENSBORO, N.C. — Volvo Trucks North America’s New River Valley Plant and the men and women of United Autoworkers Local 2069 paid tribute to America’s veterans in this year’s Ride for Freedom XVII. 2004 marks the 14th year NRV employees have been part of the Ride.

The national Rolling Thunder – Ride for Freedom parade rolls from the Pentagon parking lot through Washington, D.C. each Memorial Day weekend. More than 630,000 motorcyclists from around the U.S. ride in the parade to honor American military personnel killed or missing in action.

A Volvo VN670 with special details honoring Americans killed or missing in action made the journey to Washington, D.C., from the New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Va. The Volvo was accompanied by about 250 motorcyclists (approximately 150 of whom are NRV employees) who participated in the UAW Local 2069’s annual Ride for Freedom. The Volvo VN featured a collage of POW/MIA images from Korea, Vietnam and World War II. It also displayed the messages: "Ride for Freedom," and "All gave some Some gave all."

Preparations for the 2004 Ride for Freedom started a year ago. Early in 2004, the truck builders at NRV began the nuts-and-bolts preparation of identifying a suitable truck for the event and designing the unique decals for it. The annual event involves many people at NRV who seek to find a personal way to publicly remember America’s heroes. The Volvo VN used in the event was made available by Nacarato Volvo & GMC Truck, Nashville, Tenn.

The Ride for Freedom is part of the annual commemoration activities organized by UAW Local 2069 Veteran’s Committee, under the leadership of chairman Mark Peterson. The Veteran’s Committee consists of NRV employees from many areas of the plant who make each year’s ride and related ceremonies a personal and community tribute to those who gave the full measure of sacrifice to America. More than 400 people attended the start of the Memorial Day weekend’s events at the local’s Dublin union hall, which had a special remembrance devoted to the 60th anniversary of D-Day.

Volvo Trucks North America assembles its Volvo VN and VHD trucks in the United States, at the ISO14001 and ISO9001 certified New River Valley Plant in Dublin, Virginia. Volvo sponsors the America’s Road Team national highway safety outreach program.