Patriot Guard Riders

[Curly]

My first mission

Well, I gotta tell ya, that was by far the most rewarding ride I've ever been on. I left this morning at 5:30, met a friend in Columbia and road to the gathering place near Charleston. There were over 200 bikes there waiting to ride to this mission. The typical harley looking lot of people…a great site for soar eyes. There were large flag holders and flags on many of the bikes and there were many cars and trucks there to support the riders…carrying flags and water.

We walked around and looked at bikes and talked if we saw old friends and did whatever until we were all called together to get our instructions. They said that the police had informed them that the Kansas protestors were planning on coming to this funeral. That seemed fine with everybody, then they said that we weren’t to engage them in any way whatsoever, no eye contact, no verbal exchanges…nothing. The first grumblings from the group. We were also asked not to smile or greet old friends with back slaps or laughing after we left this place, there would be plenty of time for that later when the funeral was over and we met back here.

Kick stands up in 5 so we all made our way to our bikes and got ready to take off, we had our police escort. We went to the church where the hero’s service was held and all parked where ever we could. There were many that made their way to the church steps and formed a long line of flag holders so that all would see the honor we were there to bestow on John Paul. There were also lines on both sides of the road doing the same. At some point, the funeral director decided she didn't want the bikes there anymore and she didn't want them at the grave site either...but our ride captain said we were invited by the family, not her, so we stayed and we went to the funeral. We stayed there outside the church for about an hour and a half sweating like pigs...I thought about how hot it was in Iraq, where John Paul received the injury that ultimately took his life. No one complained about the heat at all.

We were then told to line our bikes down the road that left the church and to stand by our bikes. We all stood solemnly as the people walked past us to their cars. They asked the vets to salute and the others to place their right hand over their hearts when the hearse went by. That was when I almost lost it the first time...I was glad I had on sunglasses. Watching that long line of bikers as the hearse slowy made it's way down the road and the old fogies like myself snap a crisp salute as that fallen soldier went by was an incredible site. Yep, this is gonna be one of many rides for me.

I know the family was honored. The governor of SC rides a harley and I read that he invited us to this funeral. I believe several of his representatives were there (maybe one of the folks was him) and as they walked ahead of the funeral procession to get to their cars they said he thanked us and the state of SC thanked us. There were Marines, Sailors, and Air Force representatives there and many were walking around trying to shake every hand and thanking us for being there...as we thanked them for serving.

We followed them to the gravesite where we stood in the blazing heat for another hour and 1/2. But there wasn't as much as a whisper from anyone. There were people in their front yards, probably drawn outside by the 200 plus motorcycles rumbling down the road, and they were almost all holding their hands over their hearts…yep that was a site in and of itself.

At the grave site we lined the road on both sides with bikes, then someone started passing out large flags for us to hold. There must have been seventy large flags being held…we held the flags high the whole time. When they blew taps, we saluted as before, something about that song, and what it means…my lip started to tremble again. When they fired the 21 gun salute we saluted again…incredible…you could feel the patriotism in the air. Somebody said there was a bald eagle that flew over the grave site right before the funeral. It coould have been, at the church I saw what I thought may have been an eagle flying over and mentioned it to my friend.

I was moved deeply by what I know the family, friends and community saw as a patriotic act. This is more than just a chance to clock 400 miles on the bike, this is much more than that…man you just need to be there is all, I just can’t explain it.