CHAMBERS-TIM

Excerpts from article published in San Diego Union-Tribune on 5/4/2015:

‘SALUTING  MARINE’  HEADING  BACK  TO  D.C. 
TO  STAND  TRIBUNE  AT  MOTORCYCLE  ALLY

Every year on Memorial Day weekend, more than 800,000 motorcyclists rumble through the streets of Washington, D.C., in a display of respect for war dead and military veterans known as Rolling Thunder.  Standing at the corner of Constitution Avenue and 23rd Street to acknowledge each and every rider is “The Saluting Marine.”  Former Marine Staff Sgt. Tim Chambers of Vista started his silent vigil on a whim in 2002.  Today, he considers the annual effort his civic duty and personal ministry.  “When I thank veterans at funerals, it’s too late to salute them so I want to do it now before it’s too late,” said Chambers, 39, who left the Marine Corps in 2010 after 15 years of service.  Standing at attention in the hot sun for up to 5 hours in his dress uniform, gloves and hat has made Chambers a minor celebrity.  He has been invited to breakfast at the White House, he’s been featured in television commercials and on the front page of The Washington Post, and a fan’s 2010 You-Tube video “Rolling Thunder — a Marine’s Vigil,” has been viewed more than 3.7 million times.  To afford the expense of traveling to Washington each year, as well as the many dedications, fundraisers, funerals, parades and patriotic services he’s invited to attend, Chambers sells T-shirts and commemorative cards and is grateful for the occasional donation.  He also recently launched a nonprofit, Stand 4 Vets, which will better cover his patriotic education programs and raise money for veterans’ dental care.  Chambers’ girlfriend of five years said she’s amazed at how people respond to him.  “I see the healing he gives these individuals.  He’s one of the most caring and genuine individuals I’ve ever met. He’s very compassionate and he cares about people.”

Chambers grew up the oldest of six kids on a Christmas tree and strawberry farm in Silverton, Oregon.  In high school, he played football, basketball and trombone but was best known as “The Fox,” the hyper-energetic, basketball-dunking, costumed mascot who cheered on the sidelines and made community appearances.  After high school, he followed his grandfather, father and stepfather into the service.  In the Marine Corps he worked desk jobs in administration and legal affairs, and did leadership training.  Although he never deployed in combat, he was serving at the Pentagon when 9/11 occurred.  While working in Washington, Chambers said he saw how little the public knew about the Korean War.  So on a particularly hot Memorial Day in 2001, he partnered with the Korean War Education Committee to man a display table at the Korean War Monument, dressed as a soldier in full winter battle gear and poncho.  He sweated off 10 pounds that weekend but was so moved by the veterans’ gratitude that he vowed to return the following year in his dress blues.  “The next year I was out there giving hugs and handshakes and I saw all these bikes zooming by. I could see they were veterans and patriots, and I got a wild hair to step out in the street and pop a salute,” he said.  “Then my arm stalled when I saw tears on people’s faces.  Some of the riders said they were so overcome with emotion they had to pull over.”  He expected his salute to last just a minute, but as the bikes kept coming and coming, he committed himself to holding the salute until the last rider passed.  A crowd gathered to watch and when the final motorcycle rolled by hours later, he collapsed from exhaustion.  “The people rushed up to help me and thank me for what I’d done.  Feeling that embrace made me feel I could do it again the next year,” he said. 

Chambers eventually transferred back to Southern California to finish out his military career, but he returned to Washington each Memorial Day weekend to salute the ever-growing parade of bikers.  He struggles each year with arm and leg cramps and dehydration, and has done the salute even when he had a broken wrist and was fresh out of the hospital from an infection in his lower back.  He said he keeps his mind focused on his task and the public’s encouragement acts on him like a tonic.  When he gets there each year, people just go crazy.  Over the years there have been many poignant moments.  A former Marine from Georgia who lost both legs in Afghanistan wheeled himself into the street to join Chambers’ salute, and a young boy whose father died in the war knelt at his feet two years in a row.  Chambers’ salute has been memorialized in a mural at a Washington Harley-Davidson dealership, and he has been featured in two commercials for USAA insurance.  At least once a month, Chambers is invited to an event somewhere around the country.  Usually the invites cover just his travel costs so he launched a “Saluting Marine” gofundme.com campaign to pay for his plane tickets to Washington.  He’s also working on a coffee table book.  If he can get enough sponsorships, Chambers said he would like to spend the rest of his life inspiring volunteerism and providing patriotic inspiration to others.  “People ask me why I do what I do and I go back to the letters of thanks I’ve received from vets.  They tell me I gave them the welcome home they never got.  For that reason alone I will stand out there for as many hours as it takes to pay my respects,” he said.

NOTE:  SSGT Chambers was in Washington when the Pentagon was attacked on 9/11.  Upon hearing and feeling the explosion he rushed to the scene and worked for several days in the rescue efforts.  For his actions he was awarded the Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal.  As a result he was also invited to the 2002 Rose Bowl Parade to ride on a float with other 9/11 first responders.  Following his appearance at the 2002 Rolling Thunder parade he received a letter from the Marine Corps Commandant commending him “for serving as a superb representative of our Marine Corps.”  Following his appearance at Rolling Thunder in 2008 he was invited by President George W. Bush to a Memorial Day breakfast at the White House.  Here the Marine Commandant reacted to seeing him saying, “What are you doing here, Marine?  Who invited you?”  SSGT Chambers was pleased to reply, “The President did, sir!”    He was forced to leave the Marine Corps in 2010 due to a serious recurring illness which sometimes affects his back muscles putting him in bed for extended periods, to which he said, “I knew I could no longer serve.  I miss it a lot.”

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)