Thursday, November 18, 2010
SFC Todd Harris, 10th Mountain Division arrived at Davis Monthan AFB this morning where he was greeted by family, friends, the Patriot Guard Riders, and the men and women of DMAFB. Once again fatigues and flight suits lined both sides of the one mile + between the tarmac and the front gate, holding their salute until the last flag passed and we'd left the base. Pretty darn impressive. Again.
This time I got to ride with the bikes. A woman visiting from Oklahoma joined us on the mission and she has a sidecar. Haven't seen one of those since we lived in England. Anyway, she asked if I'd like to ride with her. Well, YEAH!! Her trike/sidecar is brand spankin' new and it's RED! Love the red :) The trike & sidecar below aren't the same, but are as close as I could come. Hers is larger and so tricked out I was gob-smacked -- a whole panel of buttons on the left, the center, and the right, AC in the sidecar, and 2 GPS systems. She took the hard top off and away we went.
There's a pecking order when it comes to the PGR procession, and trikes go last, don't know why. On this day there were only two trikes, Dana's and Jerry's. We staged at Freedom Park, which is just across from the main gate, so once we got onto the base the ride to the flight line was a fairly brief one.
I don't know the reasons for the way things happen when an patriot hero comes home. There were A LOT of uniforms present with the family on the tarmac. There was a male AF Colonel casualty officer, a female Captain Army Casualty Officer and other Army types in uniform but I don't know what their function was. Plus the Army Honor Guard. And there were at least two other women in uniform of some sort but not military. One of them seemed to be keeping things organized. It was a fairly long wait - not because the plane was late but because everybody gets there early, An AF unit was in place at parade rest when we arrived. Don't know what they'd be called in the AF but it looked platoon sized at least. We formed up next to them. Don't know how many of us there were. I counted 10 across and was 10 deep when I was distracted. Those poor AF kids stood there without moving for a long time. We weren't so constrained until the family arrived. I just kept thinking to myself "Don't lock your knees, don't lock your knees," and I bet they were thinking the same thing. Nobody wants to fall out while in formation. Anyway, we were all in place when the family arrived. They were early too and eventually a chair was brought for his mother.
The corporate jet that brought Sgt Harris home belongs to a former race car driver named Connie something (I think). Warthog told me that his jets fly all over the country carrying the fallen from Dover AFB to their hometowns. I wonder if that's why it took so long for him to get here? He died on November 3, but didn't arrive here until November 18. Someone told me Dover is the choke point but I didn't put it together until later.
Don't know how many Harleys there were in the PGR procession but by the time Dana & I went by (we were the last trike) people in the off base subdivisions were standing by the road waving and flashing the V. It was fun. Should it be fun? I have trouble with that. I loved seeing that so many people cared about Sgt Harris. Anyone who reads the paper or watches TV in Tucson knew what was going on. Once we got to the funeral home of course it was silent and solemn as we stood the flag line for Sgt Harris there.
I have a little trouble reconciling the solemnity of what the PGR do and the fact that we have so much fun. After we escorted Sgt Harris from the flight line to the funeral home on Thursday a lot of us went to lunch together and the room literally boomed with laughter. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. At our table I learned that Jerry (another trike rider) had been a prison warden in New York. Someone joked about the long green mile and Jerry said "no,no" and when I asked if he'd employed Tom Hanks he said no but he'd housed Bernie Getz (sp) Remember him? He's the milk-toast who'd been threatened on the subway in New York and eventually got a gun and used it on his tormentors.
For some reason Jerry asked everybody's DOB. I don't remember all the dates but Jerry was oldest at 1944. Thad, a Vietnam AF vet was also at the table. He's an interesting guy who went into business for himself after he got out and he rides a lot. Thousands of miles a year. One of his nicknames is "Hollywood" - I have no clue why. Maybe his tan. He's very tan. He's also called "Pale Rider" - again, maybe because of his tan. He's been married 45 years. His wife doesn't ride with him and seems very forgiving of all the time he spends on the road. Which is probably why he's been married 45 years!
Then there was Vernon. Vernon has only been with PGR for six months and says he looked around carefully for a group to join and is really impressed with them as a group. He's retired, divorced, and likes to compete in triathlons. Yeah, he's solid as a rock. And that's about the sum of seriousness from Vernon. He cracked us all up with stories of his very vocal, very opinionated parrot and his inexplicable girlfriends. I've never heard of a parrot who argues with it's owner but he insists she does. He takes her with him sometimes to bars -- which is probably where he comes up with the women who give him so much trouble ;). She also has her own room in his house. Like Thad, Vernon is a self-made man (real estate), and I think, the youngest of the group. We teased him without mercy about his bird and his problem girlfriends -- mostly because he blushed like a girl. But I must say in our defense that he fed us the material. Not sure if Vernon is that much of an ingénue or if it's his way of handling attention. I suspect the latter. Doesn't matter tho. I'd guess he attracts a lot of attention from young women because he's youngish and good looking. Not so sure he's comfortable with it tho so he makes himself the butt of the jokes.
Dana was the only other female at the table and we learned she's 55, she's from Oklahoma, she got her trike in Ohio, and she has a son. Don't know if that's who she's staying with here tho. Dana is a tiny thing with a deep voice and a bit of a swagger. She was planning to join us on the Saturday mission but was a no-show as far as I know. She asked how to get a hold of me and suggested a ride so I gave her my card. But the only one who got her phone number was - yeah, Vernon!
Saturday (yesterday) was Sgt Harris' funeral. I missed the funeral home flag line on Saturday because I got lost going to town but I stood the line at the church and at the cemetery. After Sgt Harris arrived at the church and the funeral began, some of us went ahead to the cemetery so we had a wait of an hour or so before standing the line there. An AF vet and I staked out a bench in the cemetery until the funeral procession arrived.
The family requested that no cameras be present at any of the events but a photog and Channel 4 were at the cemetery when we got there. Ch 4 left when asked but the photog refused.
At that point Robi asked that, after the coffin was in place at the gravesite, we surround the family to protect them. The photog had a long lens - longest I've ever seen. I can tell from the perspective that he was somewhere behind me, and that's where we were thinest. He captured the photo left and the one below of Sgt Harris' mother. While I dislike what the photog did, they're good shots accomplished under difficult circumstances - us, and shooting into a setting sun. The photos are featured in the AZ Daily Star today along with a story about Sgt Harris. The flag at the top which partially obscures the flag folding shot, left, is one of ours and as I look at the photo now I wonder if he had to crop any of our heads.
About the flags -- At the cemetery the road to was lined with flags from the entrance to Sgt Harris' grave site. We lined both sides of the foot path with our flags (3'x5' on 8' poles) and above us flew a dozen larger flags. But the largest by far was the HUGE flag hung by a fire station above the route to the cemetery. You've seen them, they look like this.........
The 21 gun salute startled me as it always does, even tho I know it's coming. Four or five flags were presented to family members, and the most touching by far was the moment a flag was presented by a female Army BG from Ft Huachuca to Sgt Harris' seven year old son. His tiny voice as he spoke to her broke my heart. Then a dozen or so white doves were released, circled the site twice and on the third pass picked up the two birds that went off in the wrong direction. We all watched with tears streaming down our faces as they flew into the sunset. Makes me cry again just remembering it. Literally.
No dining together last night. We'd been talking about food since before the cemetery service but we were also in varying degrees of pain from standing so long. Some of the guys have old war wounds, some have just been too hard on their bodies over the years. So, we all just headed for the barn.
No dining together last night. We'd been talking about food since before the cemetery service but we were also in varying degrees of pain from standing so long. Some of the guys have old war wounds, some have just been too hard on their bodies over the years. So, we all just headed for the barn.
This email came today from local Ride Captain Robi;
Hello all,
I wanted to thank each and every one of you that was able to honor SFC Todd Harris on Thursday and yesterday. The easiest way possible to do this is through an email. Usually the Ride Captains try and thank everyone that comes to honor our Soldiers, either at the mission or by email. I know all of you come without any preconception that you are to be thanked for coming, but really, without all of us working together, the families we honor would not understand exactly why we are there. I was not the Ride Captain for this mission but then again, none of Ride Captains work the missions alone, we all help each other to ensure we meet the needs and wants of each family we honor.
With that being said, I wanted to share with you what I experienced with the family of SFC Todd Harris, I know they would want you all to know the effect you had for their family.
As we were leaving yesterday so the family could have their last moments with their Soldier and Hero, three of the family of SFC Todd Harris came up to me and hugged me and thanked us for what we do. SFC Harris Grandmother said she was in awe of our flags on our bikes during the procession from DM to the funeral home and how she felt it honored her grandson and thought nothing could top that until they pulled in and saw all of the flags that the PGR/VFWR/ALR were holding and standing in honor at the interment site. She said she could feel the love of the entire group for her Grandson and will carry that with her always. .....that about sums it up .....that is WHY we are there. The other members of SFC Todd Harris family said the same and could not get over how special this day was for SFC Todd Harris and that they knew he was smiling looking down at all of us. SFC Todd Harris, son waived at us and smiled as he walking by.....that said it all.....we did what we were supposed to do, honor this Soldier and his family.
I just wanted to share what I got to hear.....you all rock in my world. You are an amazing group who gives of your time to help the family of our fallen Soldiers so their memories at such a hard time in their lives can hold a glimmer of a grateful nation for the ultimate sacrifice that their family gave.
Thank you again.
God Bless and Angel Hugs,
Robi - Arizona Ride Captain
The seemingly effortless way these missions unfold never fails to amaze me. Even the riders who escort the funeral procession to the cemetery manage to park, get a flag, put it together and join the flag line long before the coffin even appears.
- This doesn't belong here but I can't figure out how to get rid of it!
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