thedrifter
04-28-07, 06:26 PM
Neb. military mom with a motorcycle mission
By Tracy Overstreet - The Grand Island Independent via AP
Posted : Saturday Apr 28, 2007 12:56:34 EDT
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Grand Island mother Carol Hanson doesn’t know what it’s like to lose a son to war.
She hopes she never does.
But it could happen. Her youngest son, Kyle, is on patrols south of Baghdad.
She thinks about him often — carrying her cell phone in her pocket during the morning hours when he’s most likely to call, driving his beloved Ford Mustang as a “way to stay close to him,” hoping to hear his voice pop up on the computer telephone connection when she’s working online.
She shows her commitment to Kyle in another way — and to other military moms — she’s a member of the Patriot Guard Riders.
The Patriot Guard Riders is a nationwide effort, seen often at military funerals lining the roadways with motorcycles and American flags.
“We have two main missions,” Hanson said. “First, to show honor and respect to the fallen hero and family and friends, and second, to shield the family and friends from any protesters or group of protesters.”
Hanson has been involved in nine such funerals, coordinating several as a Patriot Guard ride captain. Most recently she served as ride captain for the Hastings funeral of Army Sgt. Wayne Cornell of Holstein.
Nearly 500 riders turned out.
“It’s the biggest support group on the planet,” she said. “You don’t have to be a vet, you don’t have to have a motorcycle, you don’t even have to ride.”
She got involved when the son of a family friend, Marine Lance Cpl. Brent Zoucha of Clarks, was killed in action and his body was sent home for burial. Zoucha’s family quickly learned that the funeral was being targeted by a group of protesters.
Hanson wanted to help.
A relatively newfound passion for motorcycle riding — one discovered when she finally consented to letting her husband get a Harley for his 50th birthday and finding out she liked to ride, too — seemed to fit into the solution for helping the Zouchas.
She and husband Greg rode their Harleys to Clarks and soon became regulars.
“Carol came to me almost a year ago with her husband Greg, at a funeral in Bellevue and volunteered her and Greg’s services if I would ever need them in the Grand Island area,” said Cliff Leach, the Nebraska state director for the Patriot Guard.
Leach contacts the family and makes sure that the Patriot Guard is welcome. The guard only goes as an invited guest of the family.
They’ve never been rejected, Hanson said.
Then she begins working with local law enforcement, the Department of Defense, and the family to know the funeral procession route, where protesters might be located and how best to honor the fallen. She coordinates a rally point for the riders, arranges a place for them to park and works with others in the Patriot Guard to make sure the flags are distributed.
The riders form a line of flags. If necessary, they block the family’s view of any protesters. They show their respect in a peaceful and law-abiding way without confrontation with protesters, Hanson said. There’s no acknowledgment of or eye contact with protesters.
On occasion, Hanson said the riders may start their motorcycle engines and keep them on idle to mask chanting from protesters.
“Carol and Greg have a son who is in Iraq at this time, and I can’t imagine what goes through her mind every time she hears about a death in Iraq,” Leach said. “She has an unwavering sense of patriotism and dedication to doing the right thing for our servicemen and women of today.
“It’s hard to explain why, when you have someone over there, how we can be involved in all these funerals,” Hanson admitted. “But death is a reality that parents of deployed soldiers have to face.
“For me, facing it, it’s important for me to be there with the family that is suffering to let them know their soldier didn’t die in vain,” she said. “People who are grieving need support.”
Ellie
By Tracy Overstreet - The Grand Island Independent via AP
Posted : Saturday Apr 28, 2007 12:56:34 EDT
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Grand Island mother Carol Hanson doesn’t know what it’s like to lose a son to war.
She hopes she never does.
But it could happen. Her youngest son, Kyle, is on patrols south of Baghdad.
She thinks about him often — carrying her cell phone in her pocket during the morning hours when he’s most likely to call, driving his beloved Ford Mustang as a “way to stay close to him,” hoping to hear his voice pop up on the computer telephone connection when she’s working online.
She shows her commitment to Kyle in another way — and to other military moms — she’s a member of the Patriot Guard Riders.
The Patriot Guard Riders is a nationwide effort, seen often at military funerals lining the roadways with motorcycles and American flags.
“We have two main missions,” Hanson said. “First, to show honor and respect to the fallen hero and family and friends, and second, to shield the family and friends from any protesters or group of protesters.”
Hanson has been involved in nine such funerals, coordinating several as a Patriot Guard ride captain. Most recently she served as ride captain for the Hastings funeral of Army Sgt. Wayne Cornell of Holstein.
Nearly 500 riders turned out.
“It’s the biggest support group on the planet,” she said. “You don’t have to be a vet, you don’t have to have a motorcycle, you don’t even have to ride.”
She got involved when the son of a family friend, Marine Lance Cpl. Brent Zoucha of Clarks, was killed in action and his body was sent home for burial. Zoucha’s family quickly learned that the funeral was being targeted by a group of protesters.
Hanson wanted to help.
A relatively newfound passion for motorcycle riding — one discovered when she finally consented to letting her husband get a Harley for his 50th birthday and finding out she liked to ride, too — seemed to fit into the solution for helping the Zouchas.
She and husband Greg rode their Harleys to Clarks and soon became regulars.
“Carol came to me almost a year ago with her husband Greg, at a funeral in Bellevue and volunteered her and Greg’s services if I would ever need them in the Grand Island area,” said Cliff Leach, the Nebraska state director for the Patriot Guard.
Leach contacts the family and makes sure that the Patriot Guard is welcome. The guard only goes as an invited guest of the family.
They’ve never been rejected, Hanson said.
Then she begins working with local law enforcement, the Department of Defense, and the family to know the funeral procession route, where protesters might be located and how best to honor the fallen. She coordinates a rally point for the riders, arranges a place for them to park and works with others in the Patriot Guard to make sure the flags are distributed.
The riders form a line of flags. If necessary, they block the family’s view of any protesters. They show their respect in a peaceful and law-abiding way without confrontation with protesters, Hanson said. There’s no acknowledgment of or eye contact with protesters.
On occasion, Hanson said the riders may start their motorcycle engines and keep them on idle to mask chanting from protesters.
“Carol and Greg have a son who is in Iraq at this time, and I can’t imagine what goes through her mind every time she hears about a death in Iraq,” Leach said. “She has an unwavering sense of patriotism and dedication to doing the right thing for our servicemen and women of today.
“It’s hard to explain why, when you have someone over there, how we can be involved in all these funerals,” Hanson admitted. “But death is a reality that parents of deployed soldiers have to face.
“For me, facing it, it’s important for me to be there with the family that is suffering to let them know their soldier didn’t die in vain,” she said. “People who are grieving need support.”
Ellie