Ohio Patriot Guard Riders escort a bus carrying Operational Mentor and Liaison Team 9.1 to the Soldiers’ welcome home ceremony Aug. 25 at Reynoldsburg United Methodist Church. The Ohio PGR’s main mission is to honor and show respect to Servicemembers and their Families.
Capt. Joseph Dickerson of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group stops to shake hands and thank an Ohio Patriot Guard Rider July 28 during the unit’s welcome home ceremony at the Groveport Recreation Center following a yearlong deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Ohio PGR attends many welcome home and call to duty ceremonies in addition to memorial services to honor U.S. Servicemembers.
Bob Woods, state captain for the Ohio Patriot Guard Riders, leads a bus full of Soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group past a PGR flag line during the unit’s July 28 welcome home ceremony at Groveport Recreation Center following a yearlong deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The Ohio PGR attends many welcome home and call to duty ceremonies in addition to memorial services to honor U.S. Servicemembers. |
|
Story and photo by Spc. Sam Beavers
196th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Ohio Army National Guard
COLUMBUS, Ohio—They are quiet when they can be and loud when they must.
They are the Ohio Patriot Guard Riders and they have been providing support to Ohio Servicemembers for more than four years. Comprised mainly of U.S. military veterans on motorcycles, the Patriot Guard Riders (PGR) have one basic goal.
“We do whatever we can do to honor Servicemembers, past and present,” said Master Sgt. Ed Engel, PGR District 7 captain and member of the 445th Airlift Squadron, U.S. Air Force Reserve, located at Wright Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.
The group accomplishes this goal by riding in three types of missions: unit deployment welcome-home ceremonies, call-to-duty ceremonies and funerals for Servicemembers and veterans.
Riders have two basic objectives during these missions—to show sincere respect for Servicemembers and their Families and to protect Servicemembers and Families from protesters, said state captain Bob Woods.
“We hope we can, through our display of patriotism and genuine concern, leave a lasting impression of pride and a feeling of ease on the Servicemembers and their Families,” Woods said.
The Ohio Patriot Guard Riders formed around August 2005, in response to a national outcry over protesters at Servicemembers’ funerals, according to the Ohio PGR website, www.ohiopgr.org. A group of American Legion motorcycle riders in Kansas responded by arriving with large American Flags to shield Family members from protesters. After the successful Kansas mission, a nationwide campaign began and states developed their own Patriot Guard Riders to handle protesters and to honor military members.
“As a Vietnam veteran, we never got this kind of support,” Woods said. “I’m not going to let that happen to my fellow warriors.”
Ohio National Guard Soldiers and Airmen have seen the PGR in action and have enjoyed their support.
“To have that type of reception is a really awesome feeling,” said Sgt. Maj. Carl Duch, who recently returned home from deployment with Operational Mentor and Liaison Team 9.1.
The PGR escorted the bus carrying OMLT 9.1 from Grove City, Ohio, to their welcome home ceremony in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
“That was really cool to know that they took time out of their schedule to honor us,” said Capt. Robert Paley, who also recently returned from deployment with OMLT 9.1.
Woods has also seen another side of this process. His nephew, an Army Green Beret assigned to 20th Special Forces Group, recently died while fighting in Afghanistan and Woods rode in his funeral procession. Woods said the Patriot Guard helped his nephew’s immediate Family cope with their loss.
Woods said he was honored to ride in that mission as he is in all funeral missions.
“You take a little piece of yourself and your heart and you give it to the Families because that’s what they deserve,” Woods said.
Engel said the Families deserve honoring as much as the Servicemembers do.
“We thank Family members because they have a mission too when loved ones are deployed,” he said. “We want Families to know that they are not alone, that we are there to support them.”
Woods and Engel both said Family members are generally happy that the Patriot Guard Riders are at their loved one’s event.
“You just see a grin on their face when they see the Patriot Guard,” Engel said. “They are happy that someone is there supporting the troops.”
Woods admitted that most riders are veterans, but said you do not have to be a veteran to join the Ohio PGR.
“The only requirement is that you honor and respect our military,” Woods said.
Interested riders also do not need to drive a motorcycle, and Woods does not want to hear that as an excuse for not participating.
“Use a car or a bicycle, I don’t care how you get there, as long as you show up because you want to,” Woods said.
- 30 -
|
