MM-C5
10-19-06, 12:01 PM
This is an email I received from a Forever Friend with whom I shared my Incredible Honor thread. I’ve posted it in here because as you read his words, you will quickly see that it is not about me but about the measure of a man that is Beau Wann.
Thomas my friend -
Got your E about your trip home and your dad’s final journey. What a fitting tribute to him. WOW.
My dad was on the train platform ready to ship out, when they told him to go home, because the sergeant didn’t call out his name. Dad was blind in one eye! That’s why they waited so long to call him up.
I guess things were getting desperate, calling up blind, cripple and crazy people at the end of the war. His brothers went earlier, two to the pacific, Guadalcanal and other islands and one to Omaha beach June 6, 1944. They all made it back.
Went to a gun show Sunday and talked with what few Pearl Harbor survivors there are left, and one soldier that landed on Omaha beach June 6 with the first wave. There aren’t many D-Day survivors left, hell there weren’t too many survivors on June 6, 1944!
Didn’t know what to ask them. I didn’t want to be like the idiot that asks "What’s it like", and " How many krauts you kill, sport"? So I just talked about service in general, and thanked them for their service to our country.
I ride with a group called Patriot Guard Riders, and we ride at funerals of fallen soldiers, whether it be from Iraq or WWII or whenever.
This group was formed by a guy in Oklahoma to counter the morons from a Baptist church in Kansas that started protesting at soldiers funerals. The PGR started with just him, and now there are 50 thousand or more and growing, nation wide, to counter the protesters.
(Pres Bush signed into law, a certain distance protesters have to be away from funeral processions).
The signs these protesters were carrying were horrible. One woman that looked Cindy Sheehan, had a sign that said "Thank god this soldier is dead" . Imagine seeing that at your sons, fathers, brothers etc funeral, that died serving his country!!!
I believe if I had been there at that particular funeral, I would be in jail for making that bi*** eat that sign!
These idiots were actually going to protest at the little Amish girls funerals. Can you imagine??? What in the world does the Amish tragedy have to do with the military?
It was on the news. They didn’t make it, but I imagine the Governor of the state of Pennsylvania helped changed their minds for them.
Now I believe that a person, no matter how vile they are, has the freedom to speak, but no one should be forced to listen!!! There are also better and more effective ways to protest something, its called voting. And call your Representative! duh???
We get permission from the families and they are generally more than enthused about having their loved one honored in that way.
We rode Friday for a soldier killed in Iraq. We were 61 strong that day. It was a chilly day, and I broke out the "dress leathers".
We all had matching flags and flag poles 7 ft tall. We stood at attention for about an hour outside the church in Katy, then we rolled our flags up and put them in one of the support vehicles and those of us that don’t have flags mounted to our bikes, about 40, rode 20 miles to Sealy, TX cemetery.
We left 30 minutes ahead of the funeral procession and the flag bearing bikes, so we could take up our flags again and line the road in the cemetery that the hearse etc would take to the gravesite.
There was a 9 man firing squad salute of real marines in their dress blues, and a very high ranking NCO with more medals on him than you could count. There was also a Lt Col with quite a few medals of his own. Good looking Marines all!!!
The Col came over to us and thanked us for being there. He thanked each one of us.
When he got to me, I just said "NoCol, Thank You"!
He ask me when I served, and I said "when Christ was a corporal sir" He grinned and patted me on the shoulder.
The family members came by and thanked each and everyone that was there. Even the Katy police and the Sealy police did the same. Thanks are always good to get, but for most of us it isn’t about thanks, it is about honoring a fallen hero.
My brother-in-law has been on 20 or 30 rides, and as far away as Oklahoma. He went to one ride in Oklahoma where there were 2000 + bikes. I have only been on about a half dozen or so. I will go on more as time permits.
Week before last in Pearland, TX there were 242 bikes. All the families have been more than pleased. Even the widow of one of the fallen soldiers rode on the back of the lead bike at a procession.
Well I seem to have gotten off on a bike trip here, haven’t I? Sorry for the boring rambling.
"I’m just a rambling man", as they say.
Well I will sign off for now. Keep the sun at your 6 and ride boldly ride.
Your true and forever friend Beau
:pat
.
Thomas my friend -
Got your E about your trip home and your dad’s final journey. What a fitting tribute to him. WOW.
My dad was on the train platform ready to ship out, when they told him to go home, because the sergeant didn’t call out his name. Dad was blind in one eye! That’s why they waited so long to call him up.
I guess things were getting desperate, calling up blind, cripple and crazy people at the end of the war. His brothers went earlier, two to the pacific, Guadalcanal and other islands and one to Omaha beach June 6, 1944. They all made it back.
Went to a gun show Sunday and talked with what few Pearl Harbor survivors there are left, and one soldier that landed on Omaha beach June 6 with the first wave. There aren’t many D-Day survivors left, hell there weren’t too many survivors on June 6, 1944!
Didn’t know what to ask them. I didn’t want to be like the idiot that asks "What’s it like", and " How many krauts you kill, sport"? So I just talked about service in general, and thanked them for their service to our country.
I ride with a group called Patriot Guard Riders, and we ride at funerals of fallen soldiers, whether it be from Iraq or WWII or whenever.
This group was formed by a guy in Oklahoma to counter the morons from a Baptist church in Kansas that started protesting at soldiers funerals. The PGR started with just him, and now there are 50 thousand or more and growing, nation wide, to counter the protesters.
(Pres Bush signed into law, a certain distance protesters have to be away from funeral processions).
The signs these protesters were carrying were horrible. One woman that looked Cindy Sheehan, had a sign that said "Thank god this soldier is dead" . Imagine seeing that at your sons, fathers, brothers etc funeral, that died serving his country!!!
I believe if I had been there at that particular funeral, I would be in jail for making that bi*** eat that sign!
These idiots were actually going to protest at the little Amish girls funerals. Can you imagine??? What in the world does the Amish tragedy have to do with the military?
It was on the news. They didn’t make it, but I imagine the Governor of the state of Pennsylvania helped changed their minds for them.
Now I believe that a person, no matter how vile they are, has the freedom to speak, but no one should be forced to listen!!! There are also better and more effective ways to protest something, its called voting. And call your Representative! duh???
We get permission from the families and they are generally more than enthused about having their loved one honored in that way.
We rode Friday for a soldier killed in Iraq. We were 61 strong that day. It was a chilly day, and I broke out the "dress leathers".
We all had matching flags and flag poles 7 ft tall. We stood at attention for about an hour outside the church in Katy, then we rolled our flags up and put them in one of the support vehicles and those of us that don’t have flags mounted to our bikes, about 40, rode 20 miles to Sealy, TX cemetery.
We left 30 minutes ahead of the funeral procession and the flag bearing bikes, so we could take up our flags again and line the road in the cemetery that the hearse etc would take to the gravesite.
There was a 9 man firing squad salute of real marines in their dress blues, and a very high ranking NCO with more medals on him than you could count. There was also a Lt Col with quite a few medals of his own. Good looking Marines all!!!
The Col came over to us and thanked us for being there. He thanked each one of us.
When he got to me, I just said "NoCol, Thank You"!
He ask me when I served, and I said "when Christ was a corporal sir" He grinned and patted me on the shoulder.
The family members came by and thanked each and everyone that was there. Even the Katy police and the Sealy police did the same. Thanks are always good to get, but for most of us it isn’t about thanks, it is about honoring a fallen hero.
My brother-in-law has been on 20 or 30 rides, and as far away as Oklahoma. He went to one ride in Oklahoma where there were 2000 + bikes. I have only been on about a half dozen or so. I will go on more as time permits.
Week before last in Pearland, TX there were 242 bikes. All the families have been more than pleased. Even the widow of one of the fallen soldiers rode on the back of the lead bike at a procession.
Well I seem to have gotten off on a bike trip here, haven’t I? Sorry for the boring rambling.
"I’m just a rambling man", as they say.
Well I will sign off for now. Keep the sun at your 6 and ride boldly ride.
Your true and forever friend Beau
:pat
.