Patriot Guard - Idaho Chapter

Patriot Guard - Idaho Chapter

One of my Dad's passions was riding his Harley. Rain or Snow or Shine, he was riding. It was his daily commuter vehicle (he worked 20 miles from his home). He even won the yearly winter mileage competition at the local Harley dealership every year for the last 5 or so years. (This is where all of the participation Harley owners would drive in weekly during the winter bad weather months to log their mileage.) He and Mom rode all over together. I think that it helped them with their empty nesting. They even rode the 1340 miles round-trip from Boise, ID to visit me in Humboldt when I was living there. 

His other passion was standing up for the issues that he believed in...even if it wasn't popular. He had always been very supportive of the military even though he himself was never able to be in the military. He was known to walk up to anyone in a military uniform and tell them thank you for their service and shake their hand...no matter where they were. Even in the midst of protests when people were up in arms about the war in Afghanistan, he would make a point of thanking them openly. This is what ended up getting him involved with the Patriot Guard organization.

      

In 2005, the Westboro Baptist Church group was protesting at funerals of fallen soldiers that died in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The protesters would chant and disrupt the mourners during the funerals. Now, I don't care if you are for or against the war, you do not harass a family in mourning. It is disrespectful and inhuman. The Patriot Guard was formed by bikers that felt that same way. They were upset by the protesters and decided to take action. The group rides would ride to the funerals, and form a barrier between the protesters and the family, blocking out their chants by revving their motorcycle engines or singing patriotic songs. The group has gathered support and grown by leaps and bounds across the country since 2005. There are chapters of the PGR in almost every state and are not limited solely to bikers. Anyone who shares their belief is encouraged to join their efforts. The PGR has expanded so they not only show up at the funerals, but also accompanying fallen soldiers' bodies from the airports when they arrive back in the US, meet current active (living) soldiers when they return for leave and meet regiments at their bases when they arrive home from missions. They provide an unwavering show of support to our military personnel.

My Dad joined the Idaho Chapter several years ago and has been a part of every possible PGR mission that he could. Even taking time out from work and riding in inclement weather. He strongly believed in their mission and helped in every way that he could. Often, my Mom would also ride with him to the missions, standing in the flag lines in her leathers with PGR patches right along side my Dad. It is quite the sight to see...30-50 or more big bad bikers and their wives in leathers standing at attention in formation each flying a 3'x5' US flag.

They rode a lot of missions in Idaho, and a few to neighboring states as well. They rode from Boise, ID to Cody, WY accompanying the body of Chance Phelps. This is the Marine that was killed and they made a movie about transporting his body called Taking Chance (Kevin Bacon).
 

Dad, along with 800 PGR bikers, even got to accompany one of the beams from the World Trade Center to a memorial site starting in Seattle! Not all missions were huge and publicized, but they were all just as important to my Dad.

Bikes at the grave side parked in Missing Man formation.
My Dad's bike is the one in the center.

When he passed away, the members of the Idaho PGR wanted to give him the same respect that he had given to so many of the fallen soldiers. My Dad would NOT have agreed with this since he was never military and didn't feel that he deserved the special treatment. But when we brought this fact up to the Senior Ride Captain, he immediately stopped us and said that Dad was one of their brothers and they felt he more than deserved the same honor. The PGR lined two sides of the outside of the church for the funeral, standing at attention, flags flowing for my Dad. As I walked the line of these big scary bikers to thank them, there was not a dry eye among them. They each had nice things to say about him and said they were honored to be there for him. Once the funeral was over, they rode a Missing Man formation in front of the hearse to accompany it to the burial site. (Missing Man formation - 2 riders side by side leading, a single rider in the middle behind the right side rider, then two riders side by side behind the middle rider.)
Ex:    Lead Bikes           X             X

         Center Bike                         X

         Rear Bikes           X             X

Most of the PGR riders had gone ahead of the hearse though, to set up the flag line that Dad's casket would be walked past to his grave site. It was a beautiful and bittersweet scene. I know that even though he wouldn't have felt that he deserved it, he would have been proud.  

Flag line leading to the grave site.

Dad's PGR vest & bandana

Dad's bike w/PGR banner (from the funeral)