I did an PGR mission Saturday morning. I woke up later than I had planned and scrambled to get on the road on time. The mission was in Madill, OK, and I wanted to take the scenic route, not the one I knew, so I figured to give myself some time to get lost and found a couple of times. The trip down turned out to be pretty good. Temps in the low 80's clear skies, and just a slight breeze. The maps actually were correct, and it was a pretty uneventful ride. If it wasn't so dry it would have been some pretty scenery.
As it turned out, I didn't need the extra time. I stopped at McDonald's to get a little breakfast, and i was immediately re-introduced to small-town America. As i rolled into the parking lot, I could see several groups of older men putting up flags along the main street in Madill. The fallen soldier was from Kingston, about 10 miles or so down the road, but the town seemed to claim him too. I guess the locals were expecting a bunch of bikers in their town on Saturday. I got lots of welcoming smiles from the people behind the counter, and lots of nods from the patrons in the restaurant. After I finished eating, an older lady came up to me in the parking lot as I was getting ready to leave. 'Thank you for being here today to ride in this parade for this young man. We really appreciate it."
Lt Joe Lee Cunningham was killed in Afghanistan on 08 August 2011. He was only 27, just a few months older than my oldest. He enlisted just a few months after 9/11. He grew up in Kingston, and was well known by lots of the locals.
I arrived at the church where the funeral was to be held, about 30 minutes before the briefing was to begin. There were already about 100 bikes there, and more rolled in at a steady clip. Flying solo, so I didn't know any PGR members that were participating. It didn't seem to matter. I was immediately approached by a couple of riders and received a very warn welcome. There were riders from all over the state, in addition to police from 4-5 different towns, county sheriff, Oklahoma Hiway Patrol, and units from several area fire departments. The briefing went on as scheduled we got our marching orders.
The riders took their places to form an honor line as the soldier's family was escorted to the church. We were 50 yards from the the town's main thoroughfare. Anybody that drove thru town traveled that road. 11am, Saturday morning...and you could have heard a pin drop. It was stunningly quiet. All of the town was aware of the service and it as a whole showed tremendous respect.
After the service, we mounted up, now about 175 bikes, and took our places for the escort to the burial. As we moved out down the hiway, I saw flags mounted on EVERY road marker. Businesses had flags flying with employees and customers standing out in 104 degree heat, Every intersection was blocked by volunteer fire department trucks from communities in the area. Whole families turned out to honor Lt Cunningham. It looked like everybody in town participated in some way. He was their hero, and they were there to honor him.
We all could take a lesson from these folks. We're all in this together. We're family. When one rejoices, we can all rejoice. When one grieves, we can all grieve. We mourn the loss of Lt Cunningham, but we can be made a stronger group from the bonds formed by the loss.
Thanks for stopping by.
