And so it goes...

In the wind again this weekend, with 2 more PGR missions completed.

The first was the funeral of a WWII vet on Saturday afternoon. He was a Navy man and served in the Pacific Theatre on a transport ship. He was lucky enough to make it back home to enjoy the fruits that his service helped to protect. He quickly set about raising a family, married to the 'love of his life' for 65 years. He and his bride should prolly get a medal for that alone!

He was from large family and many were in attendance at the services. Several of them walked our flag line, personally thanking each rider for attending. One lady in particular issued the line of the day. As she thanked the rider beside me, she said, 'When we drove up and I saw all ya'll standing there, I thought 'I didn't know Uncle Wayne was in a motorcycle gang!' Then I remembered who you were, and I'm so glad that you came!" I almost bit thru my cheek...

Fast forward to Sunday morning at 8am. I and about 40 other riders and friends stood on an overpass in Grand Prairie. Each year, a group of riders travels from California to Washington DC to honor POW's, MIA's, and KIA's from all conflicts and all branches of the military, the 'Run for the Wall'. The group had stopped for the evening on Saturday in the area, and our PGR group was there to meet them. We set up flags all across the overpass to give them a proper send-off on Sunday morning, headed to Terrell where their numbers would grow to 500+ bikes and cages (cars/trucks). Now, this is the southern route of the ride, and there is another group that left at the same time, headed thru the central part of the US; Kansas, Iowa, Indiana, and such. Understand that each of these riders pays a small fee to participate and are responsible for all their expenses for the trip. They simply feel so strongly that we as a nation cannot forget the sacrifices made for us, they are willing to do it.

The RFTW group is scheduled to arrive in DC to join the Rolling Thunder rally on Memorial Day weekend. Rolling Thunder is an annual event, the first in 1988. It is named after a 1968 Vietnam War operation, and is meant to call attention to and remind us all that there are still thousands of soldiers that are still unaccounted for, and that we should make every effort to locate them and bring them home. Now, despite the all of the belt-tightening that the current economy has forced us all into, Rolling Thunder will prolly be close to 400,000 participants. That's a lot of folks, a buncha bikes, and you can see how the name 'Rolling Thunder' fits.

It was a most impressive site, but what most struck me about the whole thing was, as we waited for the RFTW riders, car after car, truck after truck, bike after bike, big rig after big rig, passed beneath the bridge with horn honking, waves, salutes, 'thumbs-up'. It was stirring to see so many folks supporting the Stars and Stripes. Maybe we aren't as bad off as we think.

A full weekend to say the least. Once again, not sure where this little trip will end up, but the ride is surely an adventure. I'm even toying with the idea of some equipment to make the baby what the PGR boys call a 'big flag bike'. More later...