Ted Sampley
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Theodore Lane Sampley was an American Vietnam War veteran and activist. He primarily advocated for those servicemen still considered missing in action or prisoners of war (POW-MIA) as of the end of hostilities in 1975. A staunch political conservative, he also ran for local political office several times. He is credited with the research that identified Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie as the Vietnam fatality buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and for his role in organizing the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle event in Washington. In Kinston, North Carolina, where he lived for much of his adult life, he was known for his local civic activism, most notably his effort to build a replica of the Confederate ironclad CSS Neuse, the only full-size replica of a Confederate ironclad, in the city's downtown.
The POW/MIA flag
Rolling Thunder riders passing onlookers at the Arlington Memorial Bridge into the District of Columbia at the 2009 ride. Arlington National Cemetery is in the background.
The 1984 ceremony at which the Vietnam Unknown Soldier, later identified as Michael Blassie, was buried
Senators John Kerry (left) and John McCain (shown in 2014), both members of the Select Committee, were attacked by Sampley-led groups when they ran for president.
Kinston, North Carolina
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Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 19,900 as of the 2020 census. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the coastal plains region of eastern North Carolina.
Queen Street United Methodist Church (left) and the Hotel Kinston (center)
Harmony Hall, the oldest building in Kinston, was owned by North Carolina's first governor, Richard Caswell.
Kinston's Orion Knitting Mills (1906)
UNC Lenoir Health Care