Some 400 veterans on 300 motorcycles will converge on the Omni Center in downtown Corpus Christi on Sept. 29-Oct. 2 when the Texas Chapter of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association holds its annual meeting. While these are veterans who love their bikes, this is about more than just the thrill of the ride, said an officer of the organization.
“It’s about the camaraderie,” said Henry “Cowdog” Schwerdtfeger, public relations officer with the CVMA. “It helps everyone as part of our time back home. It’s hard for people to understand who weren’t in combat … that experience you had with people you were in combat with. You come back home and it feels like a hole in your heart.”
A national organization, CVMA has 221 chapters, 15 of which are in Texas. The group, including the Coastal Bend chapter, is known for its mean machines and the good will of its riders. 
“You picture a bunch of bad biker guys, right? With the gnarly beards and leather vests?” Schwerdtfeger. “We’re not some motorcycle gang. It’s a teddy bear group. We are nice people with good lives and good families. The people that come out, they just want to live the lifestyle and do things with like-minded individuals.”
There are two official rules for membership: being a combat veteran and owning a motorcycle of 500CC or larger. The Coastal Bend chapter has well over 400 registered members coming to the event on about 300 registered bikes. 
On Friday, the bikers will do a ride-on at the USS Lexington. Corpus Christi Harley-Davidson will host a reception on the ship afterward.
On Saturday morning, full members of the CVMA get down to business in a Texas chapter meeting followed by self-navigated motorcycle rides across the Coastal Bend. Bikers are given maps that lead them all around Corpus Christi Bay, including a ride on the ferry to Port Aransas. At the end of the day, riders meet at Rebel Toad Brewing Co. to celebrate.
Schwerdtfeger has been riding motorcycles his whole life — he learned to ride two wheels before he learned to drive a car, he said. He joined the CVMA in 2014 because he enjoyed riding his Harley in the open air with other veterans. He also noted the good the organization has done over the years.
Suicide rates are high for veterans, he said, and organizations such as the CVMA help combat survivors find strength through unity with each other. You’ll know the members by the spade and skull insignia on their vests.
“The patch has a significant meaning,” Schwerdtfeger explained. “The skull and ace of spades represents the death that war leaves in its wake. What does it mean to see a person wearing this patch? All of our full members are U.S. armed forces combat veterans who served abroad during wartime in a combat zone declared by Presidential Executive Order.”
Of the money they raise, 100 percent goes to veteran organizations that provide necessary goods for veteran care facilities such as warm meals, clothing and blankets. The group also organizes charity rides and parades, and they come together during the holidays to help families in need. 
Schwerdtfeger’s favorite ride, by far, was a memorial service for American sniper Chris Kyle.
“We rode to the service and laid wreaths on his grave,” he said. “The amount of riders that we had was awe-inspiring. Everything we do is about honoring and taking care of veterans.”