14 months ago I rode these
same roads from the northern end of
But that wasn’t the most emotional
moment for me. That moment came when I
stopped at the Visitor’s
I didn’t have a camera
with me when I traveled to the Yates funeral.
The picture above was taken on my way to the Courneya
funeral. It is the same flagpole,
though. And it is the same image that
stopped me in my tracks in March, 2006.
I hadn’t read what I had written for Yates since I posted it and I
incorrectly thought I had mentioned the impact that the Visitor’s Center flag had
on me. I think I must have been a little
embarrassed and didn’t quite trust my own feelings, so I kept them
private. Having stood at many funerals
since that time, I am clear on how I feel and have no sense of
self-consciousness any more.
And neither does the
fellow who runs this nursery just south of
Daniel Courneya
would have a “memorial service” – the funeral, cremation and burial having all
been done two days earlier. The
soldier’s wife lives in
We would gather at the
family home in Vermontville and escort the family some seven miles to the site
of the memorial service in
There was an open green
area across the street from the Courneya house and
spacious roads with no traffic, due to road construction at the end of the
block. The bikes began to arrive. The Ride Captain would later write, “I really
expected about 30 bikes to show up (where was my head) there were about 150
bikes for the escort…”
Notice the flag strapped
to his handlebars.
One person with a truck,
some lengths of rebar and a sledge to pound the rebar into the ground can
display hundreds of flags and it would be colorful. But if a hundred serious adults who are
standing among those flags – one hand steadying the flagstaff, eyes forward –
then the effect is a lot more than colorful.
When our flags are as varied
as our clothes, we emphasize that individuals are holding the flags and
choosing to speak with a single voice of honor and selfless service. During the American Civil War and all
previous wars, battlefield communications were so weak that the flag served to
coordinate the troops. It said, “This is
where we are; this is where we are going.”
The very best troops did
not carry a weapon into combat. They
carried the flag.
And that was the spirit of
the briefing. When Thunderrider
(Chuck
An hour earlier, Chuck was
concerned by the bikes that were parked in the small Vermontville
downtown. When I stopped there, a PGRider immediately approached me and sent me on to the
house. This was not to be a social
event.
The Ranger below is
listening to Chuck. A half-hour earlier
I was listening to him as we spoke of Jim who is right now north of
The briefing was
brief. At the end of it Chuck said “I gotta prayer” which he offered and closed with our “Amen”
in unison. More than a hundred
strong-willed individuals now had a single mind.
We walked to our
bikes. Having arrived early, I was
parked near Chuck who would lead the escort to the church. So I walked with him and saw that he was
giving his full attention to his leadership duties. “It’s not about us.”
As we walked some 100 feet
in soft conversation he said that to me three times. It is a phrase anyone can use (like “mission
first”) but few understand. Chuck gets
it.
A few minutes later, Chuck
closed his cell phone and started us moving those seven miles.
We parked on the grass to
make more room in the lot for the expected cars. We assembled our varied flags and moved into
position. There were some non-PGRiders in our lines and so there was some loud, energetic
talking. This is understandable. They probably associate a large display of
American flags with Memorial Day parades and cook-outs and volleyball.
But it was only a minute or
two before all fell silent.
They publish a “Parade
Book” that is really just a funding vehicle.
One page has the schedule for the day and another 200 pages contain
“advertising” taken by local businesses and local families. A few years ago, Robin and I announced our
marriage in its pages.
The money is used mostly
to fund the dozen marching bands that are separated from each other by a
hundred other parade entries. The
population of
Five weeks before the
Fourth, Memorial Day goes largely unnoticed here. The American Legion puts flags on the
soldiers’ graves and the newspaper usually has a story with a photo, but mostly
Memorial Day is just a day off from work when we can plan with our neighbors
what we will do for the Fourth of July Parade.
Memorial Day is about dead
soldiers. It is about Daniel Courneya and thousands before him who died in service of
freedom, democracy and Western Civilization.
The oldest constitutional republic on the planet, built on a sure
foundation of Capitalism and Christianity, has sent it very best citizens into
combat for more than two centuries. Up
until
Each year on the Fourth of
July we celebrate their many successes. A month earlier each year on Memorial Day we recognize the price of
those successes. The Patriot
Guard is always ready to make any day a Memorial Day.
I walked through the
parking lot and saw the Never Forget Ford and a Dodge that runs its rear window
wiper even when it is not raining.
And then it was over. We disassembled our varied flags and headed
to our various homes.
I passed through Dowling which
has a small beautiful cemetery where some veterans are buried and then I passed
by the beautiful
They are among those we
memorialize this weekend, Daniel Courneya among them.
Three albums: at family home,
pictures 680 through 751
Memorial service A, pics
752 through 875
Memorial Service B, pics
876 through 998