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It was a mighty hot one today but we had a nice turnout of 12 & 1/2 AUS/PGR members standing tall for Mr. Micheal (Mike) Hyde, US Army Veteran. I say 1/2 because my 7 year-old granddaughter Lauren was in attendance with us, handing out cold water and standing for a short while on the flag line.
Don set up a number of extra flags to accompany our flag-line members and the visual was beautiful. One woman in particular stopped in her tracks to exclaim how beautiful it looked. A number of people walking in to the service voiced their thanks to us for being there and for what we do. My thanks to all of you who took time out of your day to honor Mike Hyde and please know you do make a difference!
JimmyCWe had a great gathering of 13 Patriots to stand in honor for Mr. Dorwin "Buddy" French yesterday in Bastrop, including first-time rider Dan Neischin riding in from Columbus, TX. It was literally standing-room-only at his memorial service with all the family & friends attending. Before our briefing, his sister walked over to our group and thanked us each personally for being there for him. Many thanks to Nicki, Soup, and Nicki's twin sister Vicki for wrangling the flags and the nice visual of all the extra ones out on the driveway. Thank you for your service Buddy and Godspeed.
JimmyC
Even though this was a very short-notice mission and the day started out dreary with a heavy mist, 7 Patriots stood tall for another gentleman of the Greatest Generation, Mr. Marvin Kanter, US Navy WWII, at both the memorial and interment services. Kudos to all the APD motor-patrol for an outstanding LEO escort to the cemetery. Marvin's daughter Shelly was most appreciative of our presence and many of his friends shook our hands in gratitude. We also had the honor of Captain George Strable, US Army, standing the flag-line with us at the cemetery. Our thanks goes out to Don for flag wrangling at both services. Thanks all,
JimmyCWe concluded 2018 with the last mission of this year and had a great turnout of 18 Patriots in Georgetown today to stand in honor for Mr. Raymond D. Powell. Raymond was another gentleman from the "Greatest Generation" and a WWII US Navy veteran who served aboard the USS Minneapolis in the Pacific Theater throughout the war. One of his sons walked our flag-line from end to end, with tears of gratitude flowing, to thank each of us, one by one. Special thanks goes out to Don for wrangling the flags and for the very nice touch of setting out all the extra ones. Also, it was sure good to see Russ Miller standing in our ranks again today…glad you're on the mend amigo! And thanks much to Ride Captains Terry Ayers, Warren Longacre, and Keith Brown who immediately took off on their big-flag bikes at the conclusion of this mission to do the Vega escort up to CTSVC. Semper Gumby!!
We had 11 Patriots attend the service today on a beautiful sunny but somewhat windy and chilly day to stand in honor for one gentleman of the Greatest Generation, Mr. Conrad Rourke, US Navy Veteran, 1946 to 1948. His family was appreciative of our presence there with "thank you's" and hand-shakes all around. My thanks to all who attended to stand for Mr. Rourke and special thanks to Don for flag duties!
JimmyC
Mission summary for 1st Sergeant William T. Doyle, US Army (Ret):
We had a nice turnout today with 12 PGR members standing tall on a beautiful day in Round Rock for 1st Sergeant Doyle. Even though it was under somber circumstances, the family was appreciative of our presence and a few came over to our gathered group to thank us personally. My thanks to all who took time out of their day to attend this mission and especially to Don, flag-wrangler extraordinaire!
JimmyC
We had 19 Patriots riding in on 16 bikes and 2 cages standing tall for Master Sergeant Domingo R Contreras Jr. on a stifling hot triple-digit degree day in San Marcos today. The service at the funeral home was packed to overflowing with family & friends, military buddies, and Army brass attending. The parking overflowed to nearby business lots and the graveside service was just as packed. Many thanks to all who attended – in addition to all our Austin PGR members, we had 5 San Antonio PGR members there and an independent rider/family friend from Seguin. Many thanks also to Nicki & Soup for their superb flag wrangling and putting out all the extra flags at both the services. It was a definite Semper Gumby mission for all today!
JimmyC
Completed mission: Michael Patrick Humphrey, 48, USMC veteran.
We had a great turnout of 14 Patriots who stood tall for Mr. Humphrey today. A group of his service buddies and close friends who were from Chicago came over to our group before the briefing to thank us all and shake our hands…they were most appreciative to see us there and for doing what we do. There was an extremely large turnout for the service and a lot of the folks passing by our flag lines smiled and said thanks to us, and we were thankful to be there. Also, we had (2) new riders in our ranks today, Carl, from Dripping Springs, and Steve, I believe from the Houston area…thanks much for being there guys and welcome! Special thanks to Nikki and Soup for flag wrangling, cold water, and for setting out the extra flags near the church walkway and thanks to Don for setting out flags at the church entrance…nice visual and nice touch goes to y'all!
JimmyC
We had six PGR members stand tall for Mr. Robert Hejl's service in Bastrop this morning. It wasn't a service that was attended by a lot of folks, but a number of them voiced their gratitude to all of us that we were there for him. The three Navy Honor Guard attending also came out to say thanks to each of us and have their pictures taken with us for the family. While we were standing in the shade of Don's van prior to the service, a gentleman came over to us and talked about some of the history of Mr. Hejl…a very interesting character indeed! He also gave us all our own copy of Mr. Hejl's book "Sailors, Ships, Samurai, and Survival" which was greatly appreciated by all of us. Thanks to all who attended today and especially to Don for his steadfast flag wrangling!
JimmyC
Completed mission: James Newton Nokes
Ride Captain: Jimmy Callison
Mission summary: There was a nice turnout of (8) PGR members who braved the heat and the always daunting morning rush-crush of workday traffic to stand the flag-line in N. Austin to honor James Newton Nokes, Sergeant 1st. Class, US Army (1970-1976). We had (6) bikes, (1) cage, and Don's mobile command post. Following this service, myself and Warren Longacre accompanied the hearse to CTSVC for an interment service scheduled at 1300 today. As the morning service went way long on time (KSU @ 1145), the procession to CTSVC was…how shall I put this…lets just say that we were "high-tailing it"! But we made it to CTSVC in an hour, with 15 minutes to spare before the 1300 interment service.
At both services, a number of family members personally thanked each one of us and shook our hands…they were so grateful for us to be there and were in awe of all the flags flying at both services. A special tip-o-the-hat to Don for wrangling AND for setting out all the extra flags at this mornings service in N. Austin and to Warren for helping escort the hearse to CTSVC. Once there, we were greeted by (8) members of the CENTEX PGR standing the flag-line…my thanks to all of you!
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