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A cemetery is a lonely piece of property, and another hero is coming home. A black hearse carried the body of a veteran, a day that almost didn't happen. Bruce Harris says, "The word indigent and veteran should never go together." But for three months, they did. In a flag draped coffin surrounded by military, is Edward Matheisen. A life that began Christmas day in 1924, and ended this past Halloween. He was 83-years-old when he died broke and alone. Bruce Harris, with the Pantry of Broward, told CBS4's Jim Robinson, "Anyone in that passing phase needs to be accompanied." The Pantry of...

Patriot Guard Riders Honor Troops and Country

Free Republic Exclusive Fred Phelps, leader of the "God-hates-faXs" movement, is planning on crashing the funeral of one of our War Dead on July 4th. Why? To spread his message of anti-homosexual SPAM in the most inappropriate way imaginable. There's a time and a place for everything. He's a publicity whore, as far as I'm concerned. Here are snips from an earlier FR Report: "A SF SGT E-5, James Stewart, will be buried in St. Petersburg, Florida on July 4, 2005. It's wholly appropriate that he be buried on our nation's birthday, because Sergeant Stewart gave his life for our...

A glimpse inside the heart of scary-motorcycle-rider guy I am in the frozen food section of a grocery store, dazed in that Technicolor way that settles when we're faced with 14 kinds of margarine to choose from. I'm staring at the boxes when I catch sight of a man in a jacket. It is superb, covered with patches and insignias, drab and worn in all the right places. It is so perfectly aged, it looks like a something from the wardrobe department of a Hollywood movie. The man wearing it could also have stepped from a movie set -- he's...

CINCINNATI -- A two-day schedule of memorial services for a fallen Clermont County soldier will require military precision to successfully pull off. Sgt. Matt Maupin’s remains will arrive Saturday morning around 8 a.m. at the main runway at Lunken Airport, where his family will spend some private time together on the tarmac. A procession will bear his remains along state Route 32, which has already been decorated with yellow ribbons, through Newtown.

Having heard talk of "God hates Soldiers" protesting the funeral of hero, Matt Maupin, whose remains have been recently restored to his family, I went to the devil's den at Westboro's website and found confirmation. From Phelps' own website, which I won't link to, because I don't want to give him traffic, comes this gem: Great American Ball Park 100 Main This is for the funeral of Army Staff Sgt. Keith M. Maupin. Thank God for another Dead Soldier! Whoohoo! That is some goodness right there! One item that I noticed only recently comes from Matt's family, and is information...

Bay Area Brothers Welcomed Home from Iraq Written by Melanie Morgan    Friday, 11 April 2008 This story makes my heart skip a beat. Two brothers, both Marines, serving their country in Iraq, came home safely to the San Francisco Bay Area last night. And they were greeted as heroes at the airport by the Patriot Guard Riders, EaglesUP West Coast coordinator Doug Lyvere, family and soon- to- be friends. KPIX News covered it here.250 people showed up! The Boy Scouts waited anxiously to say hello.I know that readers of this blog from the South, the Midwest and other parts...

Medals ceremony today for Hopkinton soldier killed in Vietnam An Iowa farm boy killed 41 years ago in Vietnam still speaks to those willing to listen. Cpl. Kenneth Jurgens, whose memory will be honored tonight by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, spoke to his own family on the day of his funeral, nine days after a sniper's bullet killed him, through a letter left unmailed on his bunk before his last mission. And the intact collection of all 27 letters Jurgens wrote to his parents during his 10-month Army career still provides penetrating insights into the mind-set of a duty-bound draftee...

This is the final Itinerary for the Patriot Guard Mission to honor SPC Keisha M. Morgan, USA, 25, Washington, DC, who gave all on February 22, 2008. It is a go, all contacts have been made. This is a two-part mission. Your ride captain is Kevin Rock, who can be reached at (410) 867-8882. Part I - Sunday, March 2, 2008: 1345 hrs Staging at the Centre at Forestville in front of JC Penny’s on the corner of MD-Rte-4 and Donnell Drive just inside the beltway. From the beltway I-95 take exit-11, MD-Rte-4-North/Washington. Take your second right - Donnell Drive....

The Patriot Guard Riders as a group will not be at Berkeley, The “PGR” is not a protest organization. I have a need to clarify the numerous incorrect references to The “PGR”. The “PGR” main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities. Shield the mourning family and friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors. We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means. The...

Decades ago, they came home to a country that had lost faith in them and their mission. "We didn't lose the war in the jungles," Roy Burns said. "We lost it here on our streets." Now Vietnam veterans Burns and Bill Reynolds are making sure that the troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan don't have the same experience they did when they came back to the United States. Reynolds and Burns hosted a "Support Our Troops Rally" Saturday to proclaim their support for the soldiers overseas and the mission in the Middle East. "You can't have one without the other,"...

Before you blow your top about the holiday hassle at the airport, the long lines at the grocery store, all the hours you'll spend cooking and cleaning, the uninvited guests who are crashing hubby's football party, and the endless Christmas shopping list that awaits, just stop. Stop and think of the Johnson family. Army Spec. John Austin Johnson of El Paso, Texas, is recovering from massive head wounds sustained in an attack involving an improvised explosive device. Spec. Johnson is a member of Fort Bliss' 4-1 Cavalry. He had survived five previous bombing incidents. That is not all. Earlier this...

Riders recognize troops,familiesNo soldier, Marine, sailor or airman should leave home to serve his country or return home without at least having the chance to be honored by the Patriot Guard Riders, says a local officer of the national organization. "There have been a number of people who've contacted us after the fact to say a family member in the military had come home, and they didn't know how to get a hold of us," said Newburgh resident Rick Williams, of one of Southwest Indiana's four Patriot Guard ride captains. Riding motorcycles or driving cars, the Patriot Guard Riders show...

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., the father of a Westminster Marine who was killed in Iraq, today won his case in a Baltimore federal court against members of Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church who protested at his son's funeral last year. The jury of five women and four men awarded Snyder $2.9 million in compensatory damages. The amount of punitive damages to be awarded has not yet been decided. The jury deliberated for about two hours yesterday and much of today.

RADCLIFF — Members of gay-bashing Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., plan to picket the funeral Saturday of Pfc. Sammie Phillips. The group will protest before services begin at 2 p.m. at Stithton Baptist Church in Radcliff, according to a news release that also features biblical quotations and interpretations. The church advised Radcliff police of its plans. Organizers asked the department to designate an area for 10 church members to picket, police spokesman Bryce Shumate said. They will be restricted to an area across Dixie Boulevard and about 300 feet away from the church. The Patriot Guard Riders also will...

LOCUST FORK, Ala. (AP) - A Patriot Guard rider was killed this morning in a motorcycle crash while on his way to honor a Locust Fork soldier killed in Iraq. State Trooper Curtis Summerville says 57-year-old Paul S. Robbins of Prattville died at the scene when the motorcycle and truck collided. The driver of the truck was transported to the hospital with injuries. The 10:07 a.m. collision happened on Blount County 13 between Alabama 160 and Alabama 79, a few miles north of Locust Fork. Robbins was among other Patriot Guard riders on their way to a medal ceremony for...

CLAYTON, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- A small group of protesters failed to disrupt funeral services held Friday for a South Jersey soldier who was killed in Iraq earlier this month. Veterans, Boy Scouts and area residents, many waving American flags, lined the street outside St. Catherine of Siena Church, where the funeral service was held for Pfc. David J. Bentz III. Bentz, 20, a 2004 graduate of Clayton High School, was killed June 20 when his Army vehicle was struck by enemy fire in Baghdad. Before Bentz was laid to rest in Gloucester County Veterans Memorial Cemetery, military officials posthumously...

A motorcycle ride will be held this weekend to remember three Minnesota National Guard soldiers killed in Iraq and to raise money for a scholarship in their name. The second annual LTD Ride will be held Saturday. LTD stands for Jesse Lhotka of Appleton, Jason Timmerman of Tracy and David Day of St. Louis Park. The three were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq on Feb. 21, 2005. Organizers hope to raise $25,000 for a scholarship fund and $5,000 to send disabled veterans on a deer hunt at Camp Ripley.

A crowd of people put their hands over their hearts, saluted and thrust flags in the air as the slow procession of Cpl. Joseph Anzack Jr.'s white, silver-trimmed, horse-drawn hearse made its way through the streets of Torrance on Friday. Many stood outside their homes to honor a man who made the ultimate sacrifice in military duty, and to mourn with his family.. Cpl. Joseph Anzack Jr. Complete ArticleProcession slideshow

Quoted from a posting I found at DC Indy Media: "It would be a real shame if the expensive custom paint on one of these bikes ended up with, say, Inca's tag keyed into the gas tank and a lot of nice chrome accessories as well as the spark plug wires missing at 3 AM. Riding while drunk and literally "getting smashed" would be an even bigger shame!" http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/139196/index.phpEAGLES UP!