Dave
and Brenda have long provided continuity and stability for the PGR in our
area. They have made the PGR more
professional. That’s Dave on the left
above. He converted his bike to a trike last winter and long may he roll.
Back
in 2006 when the PGR was young, we were more informal. We stood around and then we went home. Now every mission involves
multiple “present arms”/”order arms” cycles, and that is a good thing. It is good for the people watching us and it
is good for us.
We
are not uniform in the way we salute, however.
Military etiquette says that if you are “under arms” (holding a flag)
you do not remove your cover (your hat) but many of us do anyway. I suppose little things like that don’t
matter too much, but I was glad that we received specific instruction on the
way we would salute Derwin.
Tailgunner, an Indiana Ride Captain who wears his medals on his leather vest,
told us to stand at attention with the flagpole slightly forward, as he
demonstrates here:
When
Tailgunner called on us to present arms, we would
snap the flagpoles back to vertical in unison.
And
then we would return to the forward position when he called us to order arms.
I’ve
seen Ride Captains who think their job is to facilitate dialog and make
everyone feel included. That’s not
leadership. In fact it is very nearly
the opposite of leadership. A good Ride
Captain simply tells us in very few words exactly what we are to do.
Nikki-Lee
was also visiting from
Derwin’s church is in Glenwood but his cemetery would be in
It
should be a rare thing, but a KIA funeral is just the right occasion.
Under
the giant flag the choir arrived.
Deputy
Sheriffs, fellow soldiers, neighbors.
We
formed-up and snapped our flags on command.
I
didn’t know Derwin and probably none of us did. Still we wanted to be here. We would mow the grass later. These are a few of us:
The
A
few from the
Nicole
is six. She has attended a dozen
missions. On hot days, she rides with
her boots off.
The
rest of us waited…
and
waited
and
waited.
and
waited.
And
then the church emptied past our flags again and into the sunlight. I usually don’t feature mourners but Joe and
Mary are an exception. They said the
sermon was compelling and inspirational.
We
returned to our bikes,
and
led the hearse.
The
cemetery is a beautiful one with rolling hills and mature trees. We walked in past the half-mast flag,
past
the advance party’s flags and on to the truck where we found more flags.
The
two top generals of the Illinois National Guard were there.
and
so was Stacy,
and
so were we.
Then
we walked back past the half-mast flag back to our bikes and back home.
For
me, the mowing of grass would wait another day.
I had traveled to the church with my flag down, but my big flag was up
now. I was 60 miles from home. I made it 75 miles and spent 4 hours on the Derwin Williams Memorial Ride up Route 83.
photo
albums: staging
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