A forum was created on the PGR website on a Tuesday for a Thursday mission, but I didn’t check the PGR website on Tuesday or Wednesday. I got the email broadcast from the ILPGR Web Administrator at 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday for the Thursday 9:30 a.m. escort mission. So that was 16 hours notice.

More than enough.

Kevin arrived at 7:00 a.m. and I told him to put on his army clothes because we had a mission. (So he got only two hours notice.) We arrived early. Since it was “extreme short notice” and a weekday, I thought there would probably only be a few of us and did not bring my camera.

It was more than a few.

Fire aboard a ship at sea is a serious threat. CPO Clinton Callahan was an instructor for the Technical Training Department, Fire Fighting Division. A close friend of the fallen sailor brought a nice Canon SLR and wanted pictures, but didn’t want to take them. I was glad to be drafted for that duty. If God puts a camera in your hands, you just take the pictures.

Because the mission was local, Kevin and I were on the motorcycle. Because the mission was an escort only, there would be no tedious flag-holding. Those were both on the plus side, in Kevin’s view. He has been away for six weeks and that factored into my decision to make this a simpler, easier mission for us. But Kevin is willing to stand in a flagline for any amount of time, he knows not to talk and he understands that the photography is important.

So our formation began the trip up Green Bay Road with the hearse and two limos following us. For the first time in my Patriot Guard experience, I broke out of our formation and raced ahead. When I found a suitable place, I pulled into a driveway and got images of the approaching bikes.

Then Kevin and I followed the formation until it was delayed by construction. We passed the limos and the hearse and merged back into the bikes.

We soon reached Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes. The bikes were hastily parked and we assembled at the side of the street as the three vehicles waited. Then they rolled past us as we saluted.

Then Reno climbed to his riding-position-of-good-view and left, as did we all.

Of course, after I copied the camera’s memory card into my computer, Kevin and I had to race back to Recruit Training Command and find the couple who had trusted me with their camera and with this important task.

And then we set-up the pool on the deck, as we had planned the day before.

photos of the escort mission

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