If you pass through the Straight of Hormuz and travel due west, you reach the Saudi city of Dammam.

Extending into the gulf is a giant, man-made peninsula. This is the King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz Port.

It handles bulk materials and containers. It includes the King Fahd Ship Repair Complex. It is a crucial link in our supply chain.

The United States Coast Guard is not limited to the United States coast. The reservists of Port Security Unit 309 of Clinton, Ohio help to guarantee the integrity of the supply chain that runs from Chicago to Baghdad right though distant places like Dammam.

They carry weapons. Sometimes they get shot at. They do it to serve their country.

Many of their number would gather near Chicago on the second Monday of June, 2008 to bury one of their number.

And the Patriot Guard Riders were there to hold flags.

Chief Petty Officer Howard C. Marshall was traveling home to drop off his personal effects and say good bye before leaving for his sixth overseas deployment. According to the newspaper, “Marshall was off on the outer shoulder of westbound I-80 at the 14.9 mile marker, just west of Ind. 51, when a semi-tractor box trailer left the roadway and struck his 2004 Dodge pickup truck in the rear. The force of the collision drove the Dodge across all three lanes of traffic and into the concrete barrier wall on the inner shoulder, police said, where the pickup burst into flames.”

He was active duty and making preparations for his deployment to the Middle East at the moment of his death. As far as I am concerned, it was not a runaway trailer that killed him, it was the terrorists. His was the fiery death of a warrior.

~~~

The funeral would be Monday morning. The PGR website first posted the call at noon on Sunday as severe thunderstorms were rolling across Chicago. Still we turned out a dozen patriots who knew how to hold a flag. This week would be Kevin’s first post-kindergarten week, and his last week before he travels to Texas, Mexico and NYC with his father for six weeks. So I was glad for my grandson to have this opportunity.

It is not as if I couldn’t find a babysitter, and it is not because it is fun for him. He has had a dozen missions and before every one we talk about how it is sad, how it is important and how it is good. He knows his job as well as any other PGRider.

And, not that it matters, but he has been riding since he was two.

I suppose every one of us has his own reasons for showing-up. The reliables have long ago made their decision. They may not think so much about why they are here, instead focusing on performance. They provide continuity, stability and tradition to our work.

But there are often new guys; first-timers. They are closer to their motivation. Maybe a son just left for Iraq or maybe a son came home injured or worse. Most of them become reliables.

We are not necessarily veterans, nor Christians, nor even bikers. The one thing that unites us is a willingness to show the flag – to vote with our bodies in support of the things that flag represents. And we do it for our warriors because they are the ones who need to know. Car magnets are nice, but the PGR is better.

So we did the best we could for the Coastie from Lombard. In my experience with the PGR, there are four main contributors that together define these funerals: The funeral home, the church, the military and us. This was the first time I saw the Coast Guard handle the military component. They were magnificent.

The honor guard flew in from Arlington National Cemetery and was squared-away. CPO Marshall was well-served at this other Arlington.

I wonder if more of the public would attend these public military funerals for our war heroes if they knew what they were missing. Why not dress up your grandson and take him to such an inspiring event? A sad occasion, yes, but that is what makes these young warriors heroes.

On the way out, Kevin found some old graves that testify to the dangerous world we have always lived in.

The greatest accomplishment of civilization is to give people the temporary illusion that society has transcended human nature.

The reality is that the military will always be an essential part of society and the rest of us will never be able to pay our warriors what we owe them.

photos at church & cemetery

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