Patriot Guard Riders: a Band of Brothers and a Family For Each Veteran

I'm retired now, so I have the time to investigate a new life, and I'm doing it. Tied down to a job that requires full input, and takes about 95% of one's energy does not allow for searching out activities that give one a new sense of fulfillment. Now that I'm retired," I don't know how I got anything done when I worked" (that's a common statement of retires, by the way). With retirement, I've found time to get more deeply involved with Board activities, write more on my blog, read, ride my motorcycle, garden, attend church, and travel. Oh yes, I'm also an Intern again at home. I'm taking up cooking--a fancy form of chemistry--, and my wife, who is an excellent cook, is my teacher. All these things are enjoyable activities that add fulfillment to my life. Yesterday, I added another chapter to my life that will very likely grow as time goes on because it adds another aspect of satisfaction to my activities.

In a previous blog, I mentioned that I rode my bike to Washington for the "Rolling Thunder" Memorial Day ride. That was a spectacular experience, as I felt it appropriate to pay my respects in a more formal way to the service men and women who have, and continue to sacrifice, way more for our country than most of us can even imagine. With the reports in the newspapers showing almost daily casualties with our ongoing wars, it began to weigh heavily on my spirit. I felt it was time to do something about it. Riding in Rolling Thunder fulfilled that need, and while there, meeting members of the Patriot Guard Riders (PGR) has given me another venue to satisfy this obligation.

The PGR is an organization that calls our attention to the MIA and KIA (killed in action) soldiers. They "stand up for those who stood for us," and they attend the funeral of a veteran, and escort the coffin from the funeral home to the cemetery. They are organized enough, to stand with a "flag line"  at the wake for a veteran, and show proper respect for their special service to our country.

Last weekend, I rode to Charlotte, N.C. with a group from Greensboro, and "stood for" Mr. Leon Spearman. Leon was a Vietnam veteran of the Air Force. He was homeless, and had no family. The Department of Social Services had looked for three months, but found no living relatives. That's why the Patriot Guard Riders became his family.

When I arrived in Charlotte at the McEwen Pineville Chapel, there were about one hundred motorcyclists that had become the "family" for Mr. Spearman. He was saluted by the group (vets only), and we escorted his coffin to Salisbury to the National Cemetery for a short service and burial. The Commander of the local VFW accepted the flag from the coffin--the family usually does this-- and he will place it in a special container and attach it to the wall of the VFW post with Leon Spearman's name underneath. Those feelings of respect for "brothers in arms" runs deep, and the Patriot Guard Riders demonstrate this with each "mission."

I was never in the military, so I don't have the experience to fully empathize or deeply understand the genesis of this special loyalty. Maybe it comes from experiencing a difficult or sometimes terrible situation with others. On a deeper level, I believe it must come from doing something with other people and literally depending on those others for your own personal health and life. If they don't do their job, you might not survive. My suspicion is that being in that type of situation generates a loyalty far beyond what everyday people experience in their life.

The type of loyalty to one another, demonstrated by the PGRs is special. A few of us might have "loyalty" to our alma mater. I don't because it was never developed during my college years, and there wasn't much "school spirit" when I was there anyway. But that type of loyalty doesn't even rank with the connections I see in the veteran's groups. In the military, someone, and it might be YOU, might have to lay down his life for the guy next to you, and that's a big, big commitment that you don't forget. Given that experience, when you see another veteran who is leaving this life, it is your chance to give that person some well earned respect.

They are coming home right now. GySgt. Ralph E. Pate, Jr. is coming home this July 4th. His body will be met at the Myrtle Beach Airport on the 4th, escorted to Marion, SC for a "visitation" on the 5th.  Then, on the 6th, there will be a Memorial Service Flag Line and the Patriot Guard Riders will escort him to his final resting place in Marion, SC. Gunnery Sargent Pate--EJ was his nick name-- was 29 years old, and he was killed in action on Sunday the 26th of June in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was a Marine, and he always wanted to be a Marine. He had served in Afganistan 5 times: in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, and was finally deployed again in 2011. The Patriot Guard Riders will be there to meet him when he comes home, and they will pay their highest respect and honor to him as he goes on this final journey.

It is the men and women like Sargent Pate who give all of us our freedoms. The Declaration of Independence only talks about our "unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." It is people like Sargent Pate that have given their all to guarantee that we keep those rights. So on this "Independence Day" when you think about the history of this great country, remember folks like Gunnery Sargent Ralph E. Pate, Jr. and say or think a prayer for him and for his family. You don't have to go there--although it would be nice-- to pay your respects for his gift, the Patriot Guard Riders will do that for all of us. Have a peaceful July 4th.