Motorcycle ride honors victims, heroes of 9/11
Manalapan couple gets ready for 3-day event from Aug. 16-18
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer

Butch Budai

MANALAPAN - America pledged to never forget those who were lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

Township residents Butch and Michelle Budai are two people who have made it their personal business to make sure that promise is not forgotten, nor are the people who were killed on that day or the families they left behind.

From Aug. 16-18 the Budais will participate in a 500-mile motorcycle journey to all three of the sites associated with the events of Sept. 11, 2001:

• The Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., where hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 was piloted into the headquarters of the nation's military services;

• The field in Shanksville, Pa., where hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 was crashed short of its intended target in Washington, D.C., due to the heroic intervention of the passengers;

• Ground zero in New York City where terrorists crashed two hijacked jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

The memorial motorcycle ride is sponsored by the America's 9/11 Foundation and it will not only benefit first responder families and all those who were lost that day, but everyone who has died fighting against fundamentalist terrorism since that date.

"We will be doing this in remembrance of those who were lost that day. To date more than 6,000 people have died from the events of Sept. 11. The purpose of this ride is to remember all those who died, especially our first responders," Butch Budai said.

He said the America's 9/11 Foundation also assists first responders in disaster areas such as New Orleans, which is still in the process of recovering from Hurricane Katrina which devastated that city two years ago.

Budai said all proceeds from the Aug. 16-18 event will benefit college scholarships for family members of first responders. The foundation is funded by the $100 participation fee each rider pays as well as by donations from individuals. More information is available at www.americas911ride.org.

To date the foundation has awarded more than $170,000 to first responders that included police officers, firefighters and emergency management responders in departments throughout the northeast, he said.

This year a "tribute chopper," a motorcycle whose construction will feature something symbolic of all three Sept. 11 sites, is being offered as a raffle prize for $10 per ticket. Information about the motorcycle and the purchase of raffle tickets can be obtained by visiting the foundation's Web site.

Budai said this is the third year he and his wife are joining in the event. He said he would like to see more New Jersey residents show their support for the riders by showing up along the New Jersey route. He said that is case in the other states the participants travel through - an itinerary which includes Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York.

"The route through the other states we travel in are lined with people. Many towns have banners and fire and rescue vehicles (lined up). Sadly, this has not been the case in New Jersey," he said.

Budai said he is hoping to see people along the ride's route in New Jersey. He observed that "most of us in New Jersey knew someone who died that day. Anyone wishing to cheer us on can do so by coming out to the (stated) route. We usually arrive in the East Windsor area around 1:30-2 p.m."

He said the journey will take the riders through New Jersey along Route 295, Route 130 and Route 1 on Aug. 18. It is estimated that about 1,200 motorcycles will be participating in the three-day event that will conclude with the riders traveling through the Holland Tunnel into New York City and to the World Trade Center site.

The Budais' journey will start on Aug. 16 when they depart Gettysburg, Pa., with a stopover at Shanksville that evening. The Marine Corps Color Guard is scheduled to be in Shanksville as in years past to take part in the tribute.

"When they play taps there isn't a dry eye around," Budai said.

He said anyone who wants to participate in the event but who cannot complete all three days can meet the ride at about 10:30 a.m. Aug. 18 at Mike's Famous Harley Davidson Museum, I-295 and Route 9 at the Delaware Memorial Bridge, New Castle, Del.