Tag-o-rama Gone Global

[Water Warrior 2]

DH, perhaps you would explain the Patriot Guard for those who do not know why they came into being. I do know but I think an American can explain it much better. The PG are a fine bunch showing their love for fellow Americans. Too many in the free world have given it all and it only takes a small group to dishonor them in a very tragic way.

[dhgeyer]

WW,

I don't know that much about the history of the group, having just joined. Sue actually got more curious than I did, and I think actually knows more about them than I do! If anyone is really curious, I would suggest Googling Patriot Guard Riders. There is a history page and a mission statement page. There also tend to be state PGR groups, and they have varying degrees of web presence.

Basically the group was formed in 2005 in response to the Westboro Baptist Church, and its antics. I'm pretty sure everyone has heard of them, as they get a lot of press. They are the group that protest, and try to disrupt military funerals. They do this because they believe that God hates America, and the military in particular, due to the fact that our military tolerates gay people. The URL for their website is http://www.godhatesfags.com. And this is a church? All of the Baptist organizations have booted them, so they are totally unaffiliated. Bunch of nut jobs is what they are. But they did a lot of harm initially. Imagine having to bury a loved one who was killed in action, and watch these clowns parading around across the street!

A bunch of bikers, mostly vets, got together to do something about it. They got 3' by 5' flags, and started forming flag lines between the funerals and the WBC idiots: a human wall, basically. The group grew like wildfire. It has hundreds of thousands of members now. The mission has changed/expanded somewhat. In addition to funerals (which are only supported at the invitation of the families of the KIA), they support a number of veteran support/patriotic missions. Recently they escorted the "Wreaths Across America" project, and participated in the laying of the wreaths on the graves of veterans at Arlington National Cemetery, and simultaneously in cemeteries around the country. They also escort the buses that transport WWII vets to the airports for the Honor Flights to Washington to visit the memorials.

You don't have to be a vet to join. I was a conscientious objector during the Viet Nam War. I got the 1-O classification, volunteered, and worked for a hospital for two years. You don't have to even own or ride a bike. They don't care about your political stripe. All that is required is that you have respect, and a desire to support the men and women who serve, and their families.

The event I participated in Saturday was a special one, as 1st Lt. Scott F. Milley was a very well known, loved, and respected member of a rather small community. They had to hold the service at the high school, as there is no church in town that will accommodate the 1500 people who attended. Many who didn't attend the services lined the route from the school to the cemetery holding signs of support, or just flags. There were police from all over the state directing traffic. Most of them saluted us as we rode by. I was deeply, deeply moved by the entire experience.

It's no secret that motorcycle riders, and "Bikers" in particular kind of take it on the chin from a lot of people here. I can't imagine anything that we could do that would be more effective in changing people's minds and hearts than what the PGR do.

It's very easy to join. Go to their website and sign up. You will then begin to get notifications of upcoming missions by whatever method the state organization has set up. Here in NH it's a Google group and email list. I highly recommend this to anyone who rides, or for anyone who doesn't ride for that matter. The way this group has grown, there are many, many active members (including our state ride captain!) who do not ride and never have. If you can hold a flag and be respectful, that's all they ask.

[bonehead]

Just joined PGR.

[Water Warrior 2]

Thank you DH, that was very informative.

[PhyPhoestilic]

I was gonna do the Tag for the cemetery one cause there's one down my street (it's the Riverside National Cemetery). Then I checked on the PGR website and found out there will be 5 rides to that cemetery this week (two on the 15th, two on the 16th, and one on the 17th) for veterans who've passed. I'm thinking about joining too, it's great that someone started up something like this.


I'm checking out the PGR website to see how it all works.

[alanmcorcoran]

Old tag: Cemetery.


New tag: Dump truck or loader.

[burkbuilds]

Nice job Alan, I was beginning to wonder if anyone else was going to play. BTW, your bike looks great.

[matchbox]

I did a 130 mile ride today. It was a mission for the Patriot Guard Riders, which I just joined recently. This was my first mission. It was the funeral of a Ranger killed in action in Afghanistan November 30. He came from a small town in Mass. It was 22 degrees this morning when three of us started the ride down. We escorted the procession, and formed flag lines at the service and the cemetery. It was awesome! The show of support really made a difference to a lot of people. And, despite it being cold everywhere in the region this morning, there were 63 bikes there! A couple came down from Maine to Sudbury, MA!

Thank you for being part of such a good thing. My cousin was a Marine killed in Iraq in 2005. The patriot guard escorted his body from the funeral home to the church for the viewing. They were also there the next day for the service. I never got a chance to thank them for what they did, so I thank all PGR now that i can find. Thank goodnes those wesboro idiots did not show up, but it was nice to know the PGR were there.
Thanks to all Patriot Guard Riders.
God bless America.
God bless the american soilder.

Safe riding.

[alanmcorcoran]

Is there a statute of limitations on this? Can I tag my own tag after, say, two months? I'm obviously not the most enthusiastic player of this, but I like that it provides an excellent excuse to waste time on the bike and I'm a little sad to see it being neglected. Are there no skip loaders, bucket or dump trucks elsewhere in the world? I can take a new picture next to a McDonalds or a Starbucks if that'll help.

[cayuse]

I was actually out on the weekend looking for a dumptruck and came up empty. I'll try again this weekend. You can ujpdate your own after a few weeks but you have to tag another dump truck.