“Ride the Thunder”, based on the book by Richard Botkin, is the heroic “TRUE” story of the friendship between American military legend and Navy Cross recipient, John Ripley and South Vietnamese war hero, Le Ba Binh. The storyline follows their fight together against the communists during the Vietnam War and then the ensuing aftermath of the fall of Vietnam as Ripley goes home to a divided America and Binh is imprisoned in a communist re-education camp. As Binh struggles to stay alive, Ripley passionately tries to tell America the truth of the war while their wives struggle with their changed lives. DIRECTOR’S NOTE: The Vietnamese speaking roles in the film were played by Vietnamese refugees from Vietnam. Many of these actors were boat people who had to endure incredible hardships in escaping the communists. (250,000 people died in the ocean trying to escape) Their performances in the film were outstanding, sincere and passionate because this is their story.