It was a beautiful Saturday in Chicago.  Unconstrained, the Patriot Guard could have produced thousands of motorcycles for the Memorial Day Parade – we did for Matt Maupin’s funeral one month ago.  The parade organizers didn’t want that and so we limited our number.

 

I rigged my bike for the 5 by 8 and left with time to arrive early.  I planned to take pictures and realized that most would be taken before the parade started.  I was delayed by the Washington Street bridge.  They had raised it for river traffic but couldn’t get it back down.  So I arrived on-time instead.

 

My wife, Robin, was working a few blocks from the parade route through the weekend.  Pepsico was using the long weekend to change their computer systems around so their users would not be interrupted, but she could get away for a few hours to photograph the parade form the spectator’s perspective.  This is one of her pictures:

 

 

The staging area was located on Wacker Drive at the north end of the loop, next to the river.  The six-lane boulevard had been closed for ten blocks and, with the broad promenade along the river, provided the space that ws needed for the largest Memorial Day Parade in the country.

 

We shared our block with the BRO (the Big Red One), the First Infantry Division.  They had traveled the 650 miles from Fort Riley in Kansas.  They brought their band, their horse, their dog and about a battalion of soldiers to march in the parade.

 

Colonel Robert R. McCormick, heir to the Tribune organization, loved his BRO and created Cantigny in Wheaton.  Four days after the parade, Cantigny will recognize the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cantigny.  That small village north of Paris was held by the Germans.  It was attacked by the BRO which suffered more than 1,000 casualties.  We held it against several German counter-attacks.  The BRO would suffer 20,000 casualties before the First World War would end.

 

Of course, we didn’t know there would be a second world war, so the first one was called “The Great War” at the time it was prosecuted.  The United States Army, acting independently, changed the course of that European war and established our country as world power.  If there was a single battle that marked that change, it was Cantigny.  If there was a single unit, it was the BRO.

 

So it was an honor to stand among the warriors of that legacy.  Big Joe Alger produced our flag and the soldiers moved in around him for a picture.

 

 

And then spontaneously, many of us made a picture for them.

 

 

I though it was really cool that they wanted our picture.  Below, you can also see Yvette standing on a construction fence to get a better angle.  Her photos are here.

 

 

And then they joined us.  Vietnam era guys in the back row, Iraq era guys in the front row, bridges on both flanks raised in salute.

 

Memorial Day on the Chicago River, 2008.

 

 

Iraq on the left, Vietnam on the right.

 

 

Joe had brought the flag to collect signatures, a PGR tradition.  He planned to send it to a wounded soldier he recently met at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  The soldiers of the BRO were quick to contribute their signatures, too.

 

 

I walked east on Wacker with Joe.  We found the Division’s horses.  The Chicago Police use horses for crowd control too.  Thinking of our friends from Westboro, you might say that the Patriot Guard has that role in common with the horses.

 

Joe and I found other groups pleased to associate themselves with us.  Pictures from our hike are here.

 

 

Joe also had a chance to handle a few automatic weapons.  “Nice to wrap my fingers around a 30 cal again” he said.

 

Robin got this picture of the horses on parade.

 

 

We found the Irish Wolfhound.  The soldiers could sleep through the 12-hour bus ride.  I can only hope the horses and the dog traveled as comfortably.

 

 

Big Red Tongue.

 

 

Robin’s picture from the parade – the dog is stepping forward with his left feet, just like the soldiers.

 

 

We also shared our block with paralyzed veterans.  It is the nature of PGRiders to be all over this float, helping where we can.  The fellow on the right does not have the use of his arms.  I adjusted his tray and his hat at his request.

 

Memorial Day is to memorialize dead warriors, but these fallen heroes have done more than their share, too.

 

 

Unlike those dead, we have a chance to tell the wounded that they are appreciated.  Robin’s picture from the parade:

 

 

There were a lot of JROTC marchers.  These girls (high school) are in the army program.

 

 

It felt like I was photographing a wedding and these bridesmaids all wanted to get in front of my camera.

 

 

But, as Robin’s picture shows, when the call came they all marched in step with a seriousness of purpose.

 

These girls were ten years old on September 11th.  They know what is going on in the world but they have volunteered to wear the uniform anyway.  It is inspiring, if you think about it.

 

 

Different branches but sharing an Ipod.

 

 

Coast Guard, front side.

 

 

Coast Guard, back side.

 

 

I was 40 when he was born, but five years from now I would be willing to trust a command to him.  Naturally.  Who better?

 

 

Jerry Crise did his part.  Now he writes construction performance bonds.

 

 

More Americans died in the surprise attack of September 11th than died in the surprise attack of December 7th that dew us into WWII.  The passengers who were the first to engage the enemy over Pennsylvania were the first fallen heroes that day.  They ran toward the terrorists.

 

343 firemen also ran toward danger that ugly morning.  343 New York firemen ran into the World Trade Center and disappeared from the Earth.  This good-looking family toured our staging area before the parade.

 

 

Robin caught mother and daughter during the parade.

 

 

And she got this.  I am not sure this girl is old enough to understand how meaningful her image is to some of us.

 

 

So I had a happy time for three hours in the staging area.  These two couples traveled from 200 miles downstate, so why am I the guy who looks tired?

 

 

And then we made our trip down State Street.  Like some funeral processions, we moved slower than first gear.  My clutch hand was tested.  The next three are Robin’s photos.

 

 

My game face.

 

 

I took a position following Joe.  In addition to the American flag, he was showing the Patriot Guard flag that was destined for Walter Reed.  You can see from his big smile that he enjoys a parade.

 

 

Funeral processions have ruined me for parades.  (Just kidding, but only sort of.)  In those circumstances, whether it is a salute from someone in uniform or a cheer from a child, I know not to acknowledge it.  They are reacting to the flag, not me.  My job is to move the flag, matching the speed of the hearse.

 

The Memorial Day Parade is different.  I should have been looking for opportunities to wave at people waving at me.  Joe was.

 

At one point when we were stalled, Joe popped his kick-stand down and ran over to two soldiers to shake hands.  Quick as he was, still a gap had opened in front of his idling bike by the time he returned.  We were moving slowly, but not that slowly.

 

There were two sailors, conspicuous in their whites, standing at the side of the parade route.  This time Joe rendered a salute.  The sailors looked at him but did not move.  They considered themselves to be spectators, not participants.  Joe snapped his salute down and kept rolling.

 

I could only see the back of his head, but I knew what was going on inside it.  He found another pair of sailors.  He made eye contact and then twisted his body to face them fully as far as he could and still keep his butt on the seat.  Then, with a simultaneous flourish of his arm and an arching of his back, he saluted them.

 

Well.  There was no ignoring him this time.  The two sailors straightened themselves and returned sharp salutes.

 

 

It was not for nothing that they were in uniform and watching the Memorial Day Parade.  And now, as long as they serve in our navy, they will be prouder, stronger and more confident for Joe’s brief effort.

 

HOO-ahhh!, if you will forgive the expression.

 

 

One more by Robin.  On her way back to Pepsico, she discovered we weren’t the only ones disrupting traffic.  A wedding party was having pictures taken in the middle of a Loop street.  It was a Saturday but the city was full of activity.

 

 

Things were quieter at the Fort Sheridan Cemetery, where I stopped on my way back home.  18 months ago, we had two missions to this small National Cemetery within one week.  Robin has suggested it for us.

 

The Lake Forest American Legion placed flags at most of the markers – not at the 11 Germans who are buried in the northwest corner.  They died as prisoners of war.  Beyond the fence you can see the reserve center where last Christmas we sent off the 16th PSYOPS Battalion.  The other end of the old base is where Robin does her Reserve Drill.

 

 

I took the big flag bike on to another nearby cemetery, a Catholic one.  This was the final destination of my fifth mission – I did not carry a camera for the first eight.  The Patriot Guard attended the funeral for Reserve Army Captain Shane Mahaffee two years and one day before we rode in the 2008 Memorial Day Parade.

 

 

The back of Joe’s shirt reads, “There are only two words that describe the meaning of Memorial Day:  Thank you.”

 

 

 

 

My photographs, 1 of 2

 

My photographs, 2 of 2

 

 Robin’s photos, 1 of 2

 

 Robin’s photos, 2 of 2

 

 

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