Rick Ronan remembers staying with two severely wounded Marine buddies as they died -- and even afterward -- during the heavy fighting of the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam.

"Fire and bullets were still coming, but I had to stay," he recalls. "I felt bad about leaving them."

But some were left behind. Ronan, 53, of Moreno Valley, said they need to be remembered, too. Despite suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, he wants to tell the public about American prisoners of war unaccounted for after the country's wars.

He is organizing a contingent of about 20 veterans and others from Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and California to gather May 17 and 18 in Norco. The group will join Rolling Thunder XIII, a 13th-annual nationwide cross-country motorcycle ride to the Vietnam Wall in Washington.

The ride's purpose is to publicize the Prisoners of War/Missing in Action issue and to press the government to do everything possible to account for lost soldiers.

"After World War I, 3,350 were left behind," Ronan said. "There were 78,753 after World War II, 8,170 in Korea, 2,056 in Vietnam and 41 after the Gulf War."

He said the statistics come from the national organization, also called Rolling Thunder, of which he is a member. He wants to start a California chapter of the group, he said.

If one veteran is not worth the effort to find, the work of all veterans is not finished, Ronan said.

Norco will be one of Rolling Thunder XIII's starting-off places for a May 28 rendezvous in a Pentagon parking lot for a parade to the Wall. Ronan, who made the trip last year, said there were about 350,000 motorcycles and 850,000 people there for the 1999 ceremonies.

He said anyone can join the group expected May 17 in Norco, where plans are to camp out overnight at Ingalls Park.

A pre-ride dinner will be served at Sizzler restaurant, 1750 Hamner Ave., in Norco. The City Council is expected to proclaim that week Norco POW/MIA Awareness Week at one of its meetings in May.

At 8 a.m. May 18, participants will ride from Ingalls Park to Country Junction restaurant, 3841 Old Hamner Ave. Afterward, they will start their trek east. The group's itinerary calls for stops in Kingman, Ariz.; Gallup and Tucumcari, N. M.; El Reno, Okla.; Morrilton, Ark.; Buffalo and Newport, Tenn., and Lexington, Va.

Another group will start May 17 at the Travelcenters of America truck stop at Interstate 10 and Milliken Avenue in Ontario.

Ronan said he drove a pickup hauling a trailer to provide services for such incidents as motorcycle breakdowns. A volunteer is needed to provide and drive a pickup to haul this year's trailer, he said. Mileage will be paid to the pickup's owner.

Everyone on last year's ride "had a focus," Ronan said.

"No alcohol is allowed at all," he said. "We focus on where we're going and why we're going. I was thinking a lot while driving on the road. We say prayers for the brothers no longer with us."

Information on Rolling Thunder XIII: Rick Ronan at (909) 924-9084.

Michael McBride can be reached by e-mail at mmcbride@pe.com or by phone at (909) 737-1366.

Published 4/8/2000