A dozen years ago, Wahiawa resident Ray Santana caught a story on the nightly news about the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom, an annual cross-country motorcycle ride in support of prisoners of war/missing in action, and decided on the spot that he just had to do it.

Santana, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, wanted to honor the memory of fallen comrades at the ride’s ultimate destination, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and to demonstrate his ongoing support to a new generation of returning servicemen and women.

Just one problem: It had been more than 30 years since Santana had been on anything even resembling a motorcycle.

Not really a problem, as it turned out. Santana got himself a motorcycle license, bought a brand-spankin’-new Harley-Davidson Softail motorcycle and — with all of three rides under his belt — made arrangements for himself, wife Rita and the new hog to go to San Diego for the kickoff of the following year’s winding, 3,300-mile journey.

Friends and acquaintances thought Santana was nuts. Rita, however, was all for it.

"Usually, the two of us are just work, work, work," she says, laughing. "So when he told me about it, I thought, ‘We’re going out? Great!’"

That first ride in 2003 was a rough one.

"I dropped the bike three times," Ray recalls. "And riding abreast for 3,000 miles made me a nervous wreck. When I got back, I said I’d never do it again."

But once memories of the hardships faded, Ray and Rita were left with fond recollections of the camaraderie they felt with their fellow riders, the heartwarming receptions they enjoyed in every town and the opportunities they had to visit Veterans Affairs hospitals and schools along the way.

Rita, a former professional hula dancer, said she still gets "chicken skin" remembering the hundreds of flag-waving residents who lined the streets and crowded the overpasses as they entered city limits.

And so, Ray’s saddle-sore vow notwithstanding, the couple has found it impossible to stay away. Over the past decade they’ve donned their leathers and hit the road to D.C. five more times.

For Ray, who returned from his stint in Vietnam with drug and alcohol addictions, health problems related to Agent Orange exposure and a headful of experiences he’d sooner forget, the rides have been a healthful way to reconcile past and present.

"I wasn’t welcomed back when I returned," Ray says. "That’s why I enjoy being around the younger veterans and visiting them at the VA hospitals and letting them know that their service is appreciated."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.