Amanda Williamson Jacksonville.com View The Original Article
Patriot Guard Riders salute as the remains of a U.S. Navy veteran are laid to rest with full military honors at Jacksonville National Cemetery in 2013. The organization is comprised entirely of volunteers who ensure
dignity and respect at memorial and funeral services honoring fallen military members, first responders and honorably discharged veterans. Florida Times-Union
At the Jacksonville National Cemetery earlier this week, the flag-covered casket of a Vietnam veteran neared the end of a long route from Jacksonville Beach.
Less than a mile separated the hearse and the grave site – but it was a stretch lined by Old Glory. Eight men, saluting while standing at attention, held individual American flags as the pallbearers gently carried the casket down the pathway and into a committal service shelter. Dutifully, a soldier played “Taps,” and its mournful notes hung heavy in the afternoon air.
The flag carriers, all gray-haired men, were not dressed in the traditional garb of a military funeral. Instead, they paired jeans with worn leather vests, and shaggy beards with motorcycle caps. But, the emblems stitched onto each vest spoke as loudly as the red, white and blue: “American Legion Riders,” “Vietnam Veteran” and – that day’s most important – “Patriot Guard Riders.”
Nearby, the Riders’ motorcycles waited for the funeral service to conclude.
“It’s nice to be able to comfort the family,” said John Sanders, a Neptune Beach resident and retired veteran who spent 26 years in the Air Force. “You never forget your fellow comrades, no matter how old you get. It is a brotherhood, the military. It’s a brotherhood.”
Since Sanders retired in 2004, he has attended somewhere between 30 to 40 funerals, the vast majority for service members he never met. However, he says, the men and women who wore the uniform deserve honor, and that has ultimately become the role of the Patriot Guard.
The nonprofit is staffed entirely by volunteers who ensure dignity and respect at memorial and funeral services honoring fallen military members, first responders and honorably discharged veterans. The organization started in Kansas as a response to the Westboro Baptist Church, a hate group known for its speech against same-sex marriage, Jews and politicians. In 2005, the unaffiliated church frequently protested at military funerals.
According to the Patriot Guard website, these actions appalled members of the local American Legion Riders. The group formed a committee to combat Fred Phelps, the church’s leader, and his followers. They then established a mission statement, and announced the group’s existence in October 2005 to more than 100 motorcyclists present at a mission in Tonganoxie, Kan. It was only the second mission for the Patriot Guard Riders, according to its website, but they were already growing in ranks and in support.
Now, the organization spans the nation. Every state has its own captain and numerous assistant captains. In Florida, the state captain resides in Tallahassee, with assistant captains in Jacksonville, Tampa, Pensacola and South Florida. There is no membership list, no monthly meetings and no membership dues, said Mike Burn, the assistant captain based in Jacksonville. Members simply sign up online at the national website, and check the thread for local events, dubbed “honor missions.”
“We don’t care if you ride a motorcycle or not. We don’t care if you are a veteran or not. We don’t care if you are male or female or what your religious beliefs are. We just want to honor the veteran,” he said. “Those that can show up, show up.”
These days, with the threat of Westboro behind them, the Patriot Guard Riders also attend homecomings, send-offs and other such military-themed events. However, the bylaws state they absolutely cannot show up unannounced. The Riders must be invited. On average, the Jacksonville chapter attended 40 to 50 funerals a year, but the Tampa and Pensacola region generate roughly 70 percent of Florida’s Rider-attended funerals.
“It used to be that we would mainly attend funerals for guys who died in the war,” Burn said. “Thank God – now the kids are coming home relatively safe.”
Sometimes the events mean so much more to the Riders. On Monday, some of them, including Sanders, plan to attend a Memorial Day service in downtown Jacksonville.
A couple funerals ago, Sanders attended services for a veteran from Tallahassee who requested his burial take place at the Jacksonville National Cemetery. Aside from the Patriot Guard, no one else attended. To Sanders, the evening touched him. The man had no one to honor him, he said, but the Patriot Guard Riders pooled together to assist as pallbearers.
“It’s a friendship,” Sanders said. “I wouldn’t give it up for the world.”
To learn more about the Patriot Guard Riders, register for membership or request a funeral service, visit the organization’s website at patriotguard.org.
Amanda Williamson: (904) 359-4665
