Patriot Guard, Weston Missouri, And The Fanatical Phelps'

I was able to do some rides with the Patriot Guard back in Illinois and found them to be emotionally tough but ultimately very rewarding. Most of the rides were when the Galesburg area was hit with a remarkable amount of casualties and with Brendan in Iraq I thought it was a necessary association. I remember doing a 4 am to 6 am guard outside a soldiers flag-draped coffin down in Keithsburg area. I also went up to Sterling to meet a guard contingent from Chicago bringing a soldier back to Knoxville at night. I also did one in Monmouth. I think there was another one, too, perhaps a guy who was buried in Wataga. Tears would sometime fall when going through small towns and people would line the road with flags, hands on their hearts and veterans saluting. I am sorry to say that my memory fades from the exact number of rides. Of course, those don't include the flag holding we did at funerals and visitations of veterans who passed away from other conflicts. The ones I truly enjoyed however, and there weren't nearly enough, were the company homecoming rides. Cheering friends, crying loved ones and hoots for joy. Those were the ones that were fun. Is there anything better than homecomings? Below are some pics I took during this time, and a short video of a town in Missouri that tricked the Westboro Baptist family right out of town.

Some pictures of some of my rides.

The one on top is for Jerry Tharp and he was laid to rest in Keithsburg's Greenmound Cemetary. The next two were for a company of reservists returning to Beardstown. I rigged up a flag holder on my bike so it got to go up front.