The fire department equipment had not
arrived yet and the streetside of the church did not
betray the gathers of bikers behind.
We came one or two at a time, except
for the Leathernecks who arrived as a group.
Familiar faces; quiet greetings.
And then we formed for Kevin’s arrival.
We were told that is would be some time
before the family arrived, so we returned to the bike to wait.
All except two
of us.
The Honor Guard was among us now.
And so was the
This is the cover of Ironworker Magazine May, 2008.
Dirk Enger
participated in Desert Storm. Now he is
an Ironworker and a DuPage County Board member.
Five months ago he was on the short
list for Lieutenant Governor with Pat Quinn.
The Pipes & Drums arrived.
And then the family arrived.
Again, we returned to the bikes.
The service was soon to begin. Half of us would go ahead to the cemetery.
It is special to ride in procession,
but we did not assemble to make ourselves the special ones. It’s not about the ride, it’s about
Kevin. Those who went ahead to create
the final “welcome home” for this fine warrior would help the family immensely.
Those of us left in the church parking
lot had time to think.
We come from different places.
Different paths brought us here.
Kevin is the one thing we all have in
common now.
I usually wait outside during the
service. I went inside looking for a
drinking fountain.
The loudspeakers in the ceiling were
broadcasting the eulogy being spoken out of sight.
The musicians staged their equipment
near us and retreated to the shade.
The fire department had parked their
equipment in front of the church and joined us in the flagline.
This young woman chose to stand nearby
but alone. Her sister had been a
classmate of Kevin’s.
Her sister and mother were in our line.
Francine stood next to them. I stood next to her.
And
Then the musicians came
running back to their instruments.
The Marines carried Kevin to the hearse. The family and others followed out of the
church to the vehicles.
We mounted and formed, Leathernecks
first. This is Nada.
Four days later, I was standing in the
It was Nada.
Nada and the other Leathernecks
immediately lined-up behind the fire truck and the other bikes followed them.
And the hearse followed the bikes and
the rest followed the hearse.
on to Kevin’s cemetery ceremony
back to the Oratowski
Mission
back
to ALL MISSIONS