Veterans and Harley Davidson

At the end of the Second World War, after having beaten back the threats to freedom and democracy in the world, veterans returned to a changed America. They had changed as well. Restless and in search of the same camaraderie and excitement they had experienced during the war, veterans found it riding a Harley Davidson and starting motorcycle clubs. Many experienced Harleys for the first time during the war and returned home to find that there were war surplus Harleys available at affordable prices. Road rallies and off-road races gave them the adrenaline rush they desired, and the clubs gave them somewhere to belong.

Some clubs evolved into gangs with some bad seeds, but for the most part, veterans are an honest and patriotic bunch. Early in the Vietnam War, members of the Hell’s Angels even wrote to the president volunteering to make up a guerrilla force and go fight the Viet Cong. The military politely declined; the idea of a drug-addled and out of control biker gang turned loose in Southeast Asia probably didn’t fit well with their long term strategy of winning hearts and minds in Vietnam.

In the sixties, motorcycle riders as well as veterans returning from Vietnam developed something of a bad reputation, some of it deserved. An unpopular war, drug addiction, the mental health issues of some returning vets, and the violence inherent in the organized crime aspects of some motorcycle gangs created a stereotype of the typical biker that has taken years to wear down into a manageable fiction. However, over time, the stigma has worn away; veterans and Harleys have come to symbolize the very freedom they fought to preserve.