The map below is square
and about 2.8 miles on each side.
So it is about 8 square
miles. That is also the area of
The population of
The location was at the
limit of my non-overnight range. I set
my alarm to awaken me at the time I often go to bed. After breakfast in
Terry was the boss and the
Iowa State Chaplain offered a fine prayer.
We learned that we would
stand with our flags at the funeral home for the visitation, and then we would
travel with the hearse and family to the cemetery for a short service and for
the military ceremony.
We moved as a group the
few blocks to a street where we parked and where flags were waiting.
For each of us to
dismount, stow gear and retrieve a flag, we would walk to the flagline site individually.
At the briefing we welcomed a half-dozen
first-timers. There had been much
talking as familiar faces were recognized and unfamiliar ones were greeted.
Now, there was no more talking. Each PGRider would carry his flag the half-block, moving in
silence.
Each of us would take a
flag and walk up the side street past the bikes to the corner where he would
turn up the block to the funeral home. I
recognized they would all pass around that corner one at a time and could be
viewed from a small rise where my back would be to the sun. I positioned myself and expected to get
dozens of good pictures.
A small group of women
walked toward our group. They came from
the direction of the funeral home. As
they reached us, the first of us were just rounding that corner. Then they rounded the corner going in the
opposite direction.
That was when they saw our
number and they reacted physically. They
stopped and watched our solemn ad hoc procession. They stood in their small group as black
leather and Old Glory marched past again and again and again.
And
again and again and again.
It was the fallen hero’s
mother and sisters, just arrived from
And we were witnessed by
the people we were there to do it for.
I’ve said it before – a
prayer offered from home or a moment of silence at work serves a different
purpose from ours. Those of us who
traveled and stood with an eight-foot flagstaff must be seen to serve our
purpose. Yes, we wish to show respect,
but it is not shown unless it is seen.
It was a great bunch of
guys and fine leadership. We don’t need Westboro to motivate us.
After a couple of hours,
we leaned our flags against the porch railing and filed past the open
casket. Usually we stay outside, but not
this time. I was (no doubt, we all were)
grateful for that chance to mourn our common loss. The family stood in their own line: Mother and sisters; then wife and daughters;
then Chris.
It is not supposed to be
fun. Most of us are men, acting
singly. Sometimes our wives are with us.
Rarely our daughters,
or sons or grandsons.
Of course, the army is
always there. We would not have been
invited if the army had not been invited.
It is the infantry – much of the army and most of the Marines – who live
with death most closely.
If a 25-year old civilian
dies while sitting at his desk in central
But when a 25-year-old
soldier dies on the job there is no one to blame. That is just part of it, like required
overtime.
The soldiers may talk
about a steady paycheck or a college subsidy, but they know what they have promised
to do. And when a soldier finds himself
on the ground exchanging rifle fire with the enemy, the only thing he is
thinking about is living up to that promise.
If a civilian in central
In
We escorted the hearse
through town. Just before we reached the
cemetery, we passed between twin ladder trucks across the street from each
other that created a giant portal with a flag at their apex. My big flag got me a place near the front of
the procession so I was able to see that the firemen all snapped a salute just
as the first flag bike passed them. They
saluted at the same instant and in the same way. Then they held their salute. It was stirring.
In
A military salute
(fingertip to the eyebrow) or a civilian salute (hand over the heart) must be
done with the right hand. But the flag
must be held in the right hand too. That
is why a special flagbearer’s salute was
defined: Left forearm moved to
horizontal in front of the diaphragm, palm down. President Ash of the Canton American Legion
Riders demonstrates:
I’d like to see our salute
standardized this way and instruction in its execution at every briefing, just
before the prayer.
We held our (various) salutes
as Chris was loaded into the hearse at the funeral home and again as he was
unloaded at the cemetery.
And we held our salute a
third time during Taps.
As I stood in my place in
our Circle of Comfort, I thought about amazon-dot-com. They have a feature that allows you to
designate various items for a “wish list” so that you may purchase them later,
or so that someone else may buy them for you, like a wedding registry. Chris
had identified four video games:
Medal of Honor: Heroes
(Electronic Arts)
Star Wars Battlefront II (Lucas Arts Entertainment)
Sega Genesis Collection (Sega of
Larry Wyche
became a general officer of our army on September 19th, less than a
month ago. I met him a week after his
promotion in
Two weeks after the
funeral for Lenny came the funeral for Chris and I would witness General Wyche kneel with folded flags again. I was glad to have the chance to thank him
for giving Kevin encouragement and pride.
This was too far for Kevin
to make the trip. Another boy close to
his age acquitted himself just as well.
PFC Eric Williams
has a blog. He is the medic who
treated Chris immediately after the sniper struck. He was also his friend.
I found another corner
where the direction of the light was favorable.
I took some more pictures of the bikes leaving. Then I left.
Twelve hours earlier I had
passed through Elmwood. This time, I
stopped for lunch. I was their last
customer before the Saturday closing time.
I had visited Elmwood for
the funeral of a 21 year-old Marine named Ben Desilets
on June 1, 2007, more than 16 months ago.
That was a 2-day mission and I stayed overnight. I had time to visit the town square where the
war memorial commemorates the names of local servicemen under a row of
flagpoles.
I had watched those flags
from my lunch table. Then I crossed the
street to photograph them.
That is when Kevin came
over to me. He lives in town but had to
work so he couldn’t join us in
I pushed on. When I saw a sign that indicated the turn for
“Ronald Reagan’s birthplace” I turned instantly. It was just the day for it. After all, he won the Cold War.
I found a mural on the
side of the building that had been the general store where his father worked.
It was across the street
from the bank building where the Reagan family lived upstairs. The 40th President was born just behind
the window that is the right one of the three, just left of the green plaque.
Another biker was in
town. She would stop in various places,
drape a t-shirt over her bike and take a picture of it with the local
background in her image. It was some
kind of contest for her HOG chapter.
Michelle and I had the
benefit of a local man (shown below) enjoying the fair Saturday afternoon. Ken had lobbied for Ronal Reagan to visit
At one point, the
president asked, “Where is the rock with my face on it?”
Ken took him to it.
86 miles farther down the
road I stopped for drinks and gas.
So it is not clear whether
it is
I got another 25
miles. So with failing light I raised my
arm at the first bikers to reach me. I
got a transfusion and reached the Casey’s in Paw Paw
where I filled my tank. By then it was
fully dark so I took I-39.
We each take our own
memories from that Saturday when Chris was buried. His widow is now back
in
I ran out of gas, but now
I am back home too, satisfied that his passing did not go without notice.
first album staging & flagline
portraits
second album cemetery
back to ALL MISSIONS