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6 Bikes and 7 hearty souls showed up at ABIA for the airport recovery of PO2 Hardin. We were again allowed on the tarmac plane side to render honors as the casket was transferred from the plane to the hearse. Two LEO's did a great job with traffic control from the airport to the funeral home. Thanks for all who showed up with special thanks to Sammy and Sassy who traveled to Austin from the Houston area for this mission.
14 bikes, 2 cages and 18 souls stood for SFC Wilson. Great turnout. Family was very appreciative we were there. Thanks to all in attendance.
Four bikes and two cages attended the mission for Seaman Steffek. Had an amalgam of LEO's, Plugerville, Georgetown and Bell County; did pretty well. Mass started 20 minutes late because someone told the organist the wrong time; flag line therefore was 20 minutes longer than usual, but all survived. Family was very appreciative of our standing for their loved one.
Note to self: Do not volunteer to be Ride Captain for a mission in Austin when UT is at home, there is a foot race downtown and F1 is here! Otherwise, 9 flags in flagline at church, 6 bikes from church to cemetery with one bike at cemetery. Not a bad turnout. Thanks to all who showed up and a special thanks to Don for flag wrangling.
I posted an after mission report but I don't know where the hell it went. Anyway, 2 bikes and the flag truck attending this event. Even though the PGR was small in number, the family was very appreciative that we were there. Thanks to Don Ferguson for flag wrangling and Kelly "Skid" Rowe for helping out.
30 +/- bikes showed up at ABIA for PO2 Hoagland's recovery mission. Airport operations allowed all the bikes on the tarmac for the arrival of the plane. The plane was about 15 minutes late. Once the plane arrived, the PGR lined up next to the plane to render honors as the casket was deplaned and loaded into the hearse. Shortly thereafter, the procession, led by DPS Troopers led the way to Harker Heights where the Centex PGR had established a flag line. The troopers did an excellent job controlling traffic and stayed at the funeral home until the flag line was taken down; it was a pleasure working with them. The family thanked the PGR for it's involvement. Special thanks to Keith Longacre for his valuable assistance.
12 bikes and 2 cages showed up to honor PO3 Sladek in Taylor. Family was appreciative and Taylor Police did an outstanding job. Logistics at the church was a little tricky just because of the design but in consultation with RC Longacre, we managed an acceptable flag line. Many people, including the Navy Honor Guard, came through the flag line and shook our hands and thanked us for doing what we do.
12 bikes and flag truck attended Home Dedication. Mission went pretty flawlessly and all riders were invited back to the sales center for a reception; most of us took advantage. Georgetown Fire Department showed up with their ladder truck but forgot an American flag. They now have one courtesy of the PGR Received a large round of applause when we were introduced to the attendees.All in all a fun mission.
11 bikes and 2 cages arrived at the funeral home for SGT. Langenegger. Good turnout for a Wednesday afternoon. The family appreciated our being there. The widow of SGT Langenegger walked the flag line and personally thanked the members. Thanks to all who showed up and again special thanks to the flag wrangler, Don.
9 bikes and 1 flag carrier showed up to honor SGT Hartley. The family was very appreciative. A flag line was set up at 0930 and remained until the service began. Once the flag line was taken down, the PGR Riders were dismissed and two large flag bikes returned at 1300 to accompany the funeral car with the deceased ashes to CTSVC where we were met with 4 Centex PGR for the final flag line. My thanks to Flag Wrangler Don and Warren Longacre for the extra effort on this mission.
Reply continued: Route must have been changed by Killeen PD and no-one notified us. Semper Gumby. I strongly suggest we put much more thought into accepting missions of this type. Although the thought was great and the bike riders appreciated our presence ; it was extremely difficult to ride 12 to 15 MPH for 20 miles and even as slow as we were riding, we left the bike riders way behind. Just my two cents worth.
8 Riders attended the Ride for Recovery event. Got started just about on time and rode VERY SLOWLY to the Gtwn PD for coffee and donuts (cop food) then rode VERY SLOWLY to Florence Fire Department which was a rest stop only. Talked to one of the organizers and the lead police SGT about leaving the procession. They indicated that they really wanted the flag bikes for the entrance into Killeen. Got the intended route from them and told them we would ride ahead and rejoin the procession at the Shell Station just North of CTSVC. We waited for 2 hours for them to show up and they never did.
Thirteen souls defied high winds and possible rain to stand in honor of Mr. Jeffries. We manned the flag line until the widow arrived and started mingling with the crowd with no indication of when the memorial service would begin. As we had been standing the flag line for 40 minutes as it was, I stuck the flag line and we quietly departed.
18 bikes showed up for the ground breaking ceremonies in Santa Rita Ranch for Spc. Detuccio. Only screw-up was a last minute decision by the Ride Captain to not park where intended which made us a little late for the flag line, but no big harm was done. The Patriot Guard Riders were all invited to an after action reception at the visitors center, which some of us attended. Food was good and plentiful.
Mark beat me to the post, thanks all for taking time to Honor COL. Dereng.
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