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thedrifter
02-13-07, 06:33 AM
Leather-clad honor guard rides on patriotic mission

By JARED JANES
Advocate staff writer
Published: Feb 13, 2007

GONZALES — Dressed in piles of leather and riding pounds of steel, more than 100 motorcyclists from across the South converged Feb. 3 in Ascension Parish for the burial of a hometown hero.

Among the cyclists paying their respects was John Colter, a Baton Rouge police officer who served six years with the Marines. Colter helped organize the Patriot Guard Riders to lead the funeral procession of Prairieville Army Spc. Johnathan Bryan Chism, 22, who died Jan. 20 in Iraq.

“What we do, really what this is all about, is paying respects to soldiers who gave everything for this country,” Colter said .

The Patriot Guard Riders rode again, more than 10 times last week, in funerals from Thousand Oaks, Calif., to Centerville, Mass.

The group sprang to life in October 2005 to counter funeral protests made by the Westboro Baptist Church, a Kansas group that has picketed soldiers’ funerals and has said it believes God killed the soldiers because of American tolerance of homosexuality.

The church had notified the news media that it had planned to picket the Chism funeral, but apparently none of its members showed up.

The Patriot Guard Riders, in just over a year of existence, has amassed a roll surpassing 78,000 members. In Louisiana, the group claims more than 400 members.

There are no dues – their Web site claims, “Freedom isn’t Free but Membership is” – and generally no membership requirements.

The only task expected of members is to show up as invited guests at funerals and, if necessary, to shield the family from disruptions by protestors, Colter said.

Completing a funeral is seen as a badge of honor by the riders, and some members wear small, dog-tag shaped “Mission Accomplished” pins as a reminder of the funeral services they have attended, he said.

In the 10 months Colter has been with the Patriot Guard Riders, he’s completed 11 missions.

“You do one, and you’re hooked,” he said. “You’re not going to be able to turn down the next one.”

Some missions draw only a few riders. The Dec. 13 service in Vacherie for Army Sgt. Jay Ryan Gauthreaux, who was killed Dec. 4 in Iraq, drew only seven riders, Colter said, noting that the service was held on a weekday.

Many military veterans join the Patriot Guard Riders to honor their “brothers in arms,” Colter said.

A few people do it because they aren’t quite sure what else they can do to support the troops.

Randy Verdun, a blueprint designer with a chemical plant, discovered the Patriot Guard Riders through his love of motorcycles.

The Denham Springs resident runs a Web site dedicated to Harley-Davidson motorcycles and learned about the Patriot Guard Riders through a message on his Web site, he said.

Verdun said he never served in the military, but felt he needed to do something to honor the troops.

The Patriot Guard Riders was his answer.

“Anyone who wears a uniform to me is a hero because they do what most people won’t do,” he said. “It gives me a chance to recognize them.”

A few minutes away from finishing their first ride at a funeral procession, Richard and Michelle Chambers stood near the road in front of the cemetery Feb. 3 while the service for Chism continued in the background.

Michelle Chambers said leading a soldier’s funeral procession through the streets while residents waved flags and shouted support “tears at your heart strings.”

Her eyes watered as the honor guard fired their rifles in a salute for the fallen soldier.

The couple, who live in Rogers in LaSalle Parish, had moved to the front of the cemetery for a break from the emotional service.

“I’m going to go again,” Chambers said. “This has been hard. The flags and the signs and everything.”

Like many of the riders, her family has a history of military service, including a parent and grandparents who had served in combat overseas.

Her husband, Richard Chambers, served four years in the Navy.

“If you serve your country, you’ve got to support your troops,” he said. “This is, unfortunately, what little we can do.”

ON THE INTERNET:
Patriot Guard Riders
www.patriotguard.org

Ellie