Harley Comes to the Rescue of U.S. Vet After His Bike Is Stolen
Wounded Warrior Project and Scootin America founder Adam Sandoval help say thank you in the most memorable way possible — with a Harley!
Wounded Warrior Project and Harley-Davidson recently surprised United States military veteran Ernesto Olivares with a brand-new Harley to replace his stolen motorcycle. YouTube star Adam Sandoval, the founder of Scootin America, was on hand to present the new bike.
Los Angeles veteran Oliveras served in the U.S. Marine Corps for nine years, just recently retiring after two combat missions in deployments to Afghanistan. After his bike went M.I.A., Olivares’ wife Amy, pictured with Ernesto in the main photo, nominated her husband for a new one via Wounded Warrior’s Mission: Thank You project.
“As I came back from my second deployment in Afghanistan, I bought a new motorcycle and a month or two later, it was stolen and ever since then I’ve been without a bike,” Olivares told local news station ABC 7 Los Angeles.
His luck soon changed thanks to Harley-Davidson, Sandoval and the Wounded Warrior Project. On June 23, Top Rocker Harley-Davidson in Canoga Park became one of eight stops on Sandoval’s nationwide Mission: Thank You Tour, which was launched to celebrate veterans across the country and surprise them with new motorcycles. It was there that Sandoval helped gift a 2017 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special to Olivares.
During the presentation, the military vet was admittedly speechless. Sandoval told him, “Thank you so much for serving our country. It means the world to me and I know it means the world to Harley-Davidson. And together, from the bottom of our hearts, we just want to thank you and hope you enjoy the freedom of the open road that you fought for.”
‘Thank you for serving our country. It means the world to me and to Harley-Davidson. We hope you enjoy the freedom of the open road that you fought for.’
Says Sandoval, “We’re asking Americans to nominate members of the military, past or present, who dedicated their lives to protecting our freedom. Based on America’s nominations, I’ll make eight stops along my cross-country journey to give away new Harley-Davidson motorcycles, including at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.”
Scootin America is a motorcycle adventure that began in 2014 when Sandoval and his dog Scooter, pictured right, made it their mission to visit every Harley-Davidson dealership in the lower 48 states in order to raise money and awareness for U.S. military veterans and their families. After two years on the road and over 80,000 miles, the duo completed the incredible cross-country ride and raised over $300,000 in donations.
Mission: Thank You will culminate with a bike being awarded in New York City on Veterans Day (November 11) prior to the worlds largest Veterans Parade.
