Jennifer Harper at the Washington Times has a written a nice article about the Patriot Guard Riders in today’s issue.

The Washington Times article even used one of the comments left by the parents of PFC Amy Duerksen on my blog post about the PGR mission for their daughter’s funeral in Temple, TX last week:

Thank you. Thank you for honoring our Soldier Girl - PFC Amy Duerksen with roaring bikes and saluting hands. Thank you for honoring our family with kind words and outstretched arms. Thank you for honoring God with bowed heads and prayers in His name. Thank you for honoring our country with pure hearts, good deeds, and American flags. Thank you for giving up your personal time and resources to ride miles upon miles and hours upon hours to honor, serve, and pay tribute to people that you have never met.

Also from the Washington Times article:

“We’ve hit upon a raw patriotic nerve in Americans searching for a way to identify with those who are supporting and defending our freedoms,” said Kurt Mayer of Houston, spokesman for the group

That pretty well sums up the overwhelming feeling of being a part of this group, and what it means to us when we ride these missions.

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I have a question for all of you anti-war “We support the troops but not the war” protestors out there: When you’re standing around with your anti-war signs “supporting our soldiers”, do any active duty, in-uniform Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, or Airmen ever walk up to your group of protestors and shake each and every one of your hands, and thank you for “supporting” them in the way that you think you are?

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Yet, on the three PGR missions I’ve attended in the last three weeks, the uniformed active duty troops who were there have gone out of their way to thank us for our service and for being there for them. We’ve had a Brigadier General walk our ranks and shake every single hand of every rider. We’ve had a Chaplain, an Officer in the United States Army, walk our ranks and salute us. I’ve had a Marine Captain look me firmly in the eye while he shook my hand and thank me for my service that day.

Do you want to know how you’ll know if you’re really supporting the troops? They’ll tell you so. And they’ll do it in the most humbling, bring-tears-to-your-eyes way imaginable.

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MORE: Papamoka at Straight Talk writes: “What do you know, maybe God has his own messengers and they ride a hog.”

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Friday, March 24th, 2006 | Trackback |