PHASE 1: Aaron
arrives at Midway Airport and is escorted to Mokena
Some from Indiana
and many from Illinois.
Tough old guys
and tough new guys.
Hoosiers.
Kashrut bikers. Made me smile.
Tees for Aaron.
Hundreds
of bikes.
Doug Kalitta continues his mission.
SSGT Feeney continues her mission.
Early in our roll down Cicero we passed this guy.
He is standing alone, so we know this is not a social event for him.
And I like it when they hold Old Glory high.
This fellow joined us around 79th and left around 147th.
I had this chance to meet him because half the bikes
were caught at a container train crossing.
While we waited he gave me a donation for the PGR.
Five miles into the escort.
Firemen reliably celebrate heroes.
Woman standing alone, flag held high.
Then we left the sunshine behind.
Woman standing alone.
She could have remained in her car.
But she didn't.
And then we came out of the rain.
Woman standing alone.
I caught this family as we went by.
The father is displaying his daughter's art.
I see the mountains of Afghanistan with a cloud of American flags overhead.
I see a small group of Americans on the ground below.
I see a giant bomb crater and two hearts.
And I see the artist.
Firemen.
Woman stand at attention, alone.
And then we approach the turn onto Wolf Road.
I had captured only a very small portion of the people standing along our route.
Now I would capture a still smaller portion.
The crowd made it difficult to maneuver.
Aaron's neighbors came out for his homecoming.
It wasn't a parade; they had seen motorcycles before.
They came to honor the choices he made.
On November 29, 2013, Aaron changed the cover photo of his FaceBook page.
Six months before he died, this is what Aaron was thinking:
back to the Aaron Toppen Mission