Honored To Be A Part Of It

I have been an active member of the Patriot Guard Riders since 2018 and try to attend as many missions as I can. Today's mission was one of those that was extra special.

**HONOR MISSION** 8 UNCLAIMED MILITARY VETERANS ROCKY HILL/ MIDDLETOWN, CT FRIDAY 10/01/2021 845AM STAGE

Posted: 28 Sep 2021 05:19 PM PDT

**HONOR MISSION**

8 UNCLAIMED MILITARY VETERANS

 

VICTOR H ANDERSON USMC KOREA

ORVILLE K DAVIS US ARMY WW II

STEPHEN Y FORRESTER US ARMY VIETNAM

JOSEPH P GALIPEAU US ARMY WW II

LAWRENCE W JORDAN US ARMY WW I

BERNARD J LAFLEUR US NAVY WW II

GEORGE D PARKER US NAVY WW II

LAWRENCE E TEFFT US COAST GUARD/MERCHANT MARINE WW II

 

ESCORT STAGE

CT DEPT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

287 WEST ST

ROCKY HILL CT 06067

FRIDAY 10/01/2021

845AM STAGE

 

CEMETERY STAGE

CT STATE VETERANS CEMETERY

317 BOW LA

MIDDLETOWN, CT  06457

FRIDAY 10/01/2021

930AM STAGE

Patriot Guard and Associates;

We have been invited by DVA Commissioner Thomas Saadi to participate in the Escort and Final Military Honors for 8 Unclaimed Military Veterans.

CT PGR along with the CT Funeral Directors Association, CT State Police, Local Law Enforcement, will Escort these Veterans to their final resting place at the CT State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown.

CT PGR will now be the family for these Veterans.

A flagged Vehicle Escort has been requested.

ASC Skip Petras (XXX-XXX-XXXX) will be RCIC for the escort.

We will Stand a Flag Line for the Cemetery Ceremony and Military Honors.

RC Gregg Karal (XXX-XXX-XXXX) will be RCIC at the Cemetery with flags on site.

Any RC that will be attending are requested to bring their flags to the cemetery.

Members are reminded that Personal Weapons are not Permitted on State Property.

Masks are encouraged by the DVA though not required. Members may make their own choice.

God Bless America, Our Troops and Our First Responders.

 

Every time one of these has come up in the past, I was unable to serve for whatever reason but today's occurred on my regular day off and the weather was absolutely beautiful. It was a somber but joyous ceremony, for eight men whose remains have been in storage at various funeral homes because they were unclaimed. One of them since 1976. Here is a couple of news stories covering the event. If you knew where/when to look... yes indeed... Glypto's mug and bike is there to see. For PERSEC though, I will not give it away.

Fox 61 CT CT Veterans Military Funeral

 

 

NBC 30 CT Veterans Military Funeral

It was 40 degrees when I left my house so I had on some cold weather gear. We met at the VA Home and Hospital in Rocky Hill. Unlike most PGR missions, there was no waiting around in staging to have coffee or to bullshit with the other members. This was a joint effort between the state VA and the CT Funeral Directors Association. It also involved the CT State Police, Rocky Hill Police, Cromwell Police, Middletown Police, Middletown FD, and military honor guards. All 8 cremated remains arrived in a single hearse, but there were three others provided. Each hearse had the magnetic branch insignia on the drivers door for the respective service branches, so the urns needed to be moved according to the deceased's branch of service. This was done by members of the PGR and the Combat Vet Motorcycle Association, including yours truly. We lined up at the rear of the main hearse, and the president of the CFDA distributed the urns to us. Slowly and deliberately, the CFDA president would pick up an urn, bring it face to face to the waiting personnel. The person receiving the urn would render a salute, do a left face, walk several steps, do another left face, and slowly walk to to appropriate waiting hearse. I walked in a similar way to the Honor Guards at The Tomb of The Unknown at Arlington... that slow and deliberate walk. I did a left face, 3 or 4 steps, then a final left face to hand the urn to the funeral director waiting at the back of the hearse. After the urns were all properly placed, everyone posed for photos in front of the cannons and flagpole in front of the admin building. It was soon time to saddle up for the police escorted procession. There were 2 flagged pickup trucks (one in front, one in the rear) and about 22 bikes in between, followed by the four hearses and the CT State Police motorcycle troopers running as roaming road guards. The town police in Rocky Hill, Cromwell, and Middletown were waiting for us at the larger intersections. We had to do a short hop on the RT. 9 state highway, which was shut down for us to enter and exit unimpeded.

We arrived safely at the cemetery and had a parking area set aside for the escort vehicles and bikes. We parked and headed over to the cemetery Ride Captain's truck to get our flags for the flag line. We lined up about 25 feet from the large tent that was set up behind the speaker's podium. The line was one of the longest I've seen in a while, about 45 participants since there were quite a few PGR members that either don't have bikes or chose not to ride today and were waiting there for us.

In attendance were many veterans groups from around the region. American Legion, VFW, The Marine Corps League, DAV, CT State Honor Guard and others that I couldn't quite tell who they were. The hearses were brought up one at a time to the rear of the tent, and military honor guards brought the urns up one at a time and set them on a special table each with a folded flag. When all were in place, we recited the Pledge of Allegiance, sang the National Anthem, and bowed our heads for the invocation prayer. The Master of Ceremony was state DVA Commissioner Saadi. There were 6 speeches including his that were nice and short. Military honors were rendered for all 8 deceased at once, and the Army Honor Guard ceremoniously folded a US Flag. That flag was presented to Commissioner Saadi. It concluded with a closing and a benediction prayer and it was done. We did the usual PGR exit. We stayed in our line, called to attention, did a right face, and marched off single file holding our flags. Only when we get to the RC vehicle to we break rank and disassemble our flags. I have heard directly from mourners over the years that the march off impresses the hell out of them.

You may have missed in the mission notice the reminder "Members are reminded that Personal Weapons are not Permitted on State Property." Well guess what, as usual I was armed. You see, by attending these missions unarmed, not only am I disarmed at the mission (which isn't a big deal since there is usually a police presence), but traveling to and from and while making any stops. I had errands to run afterwards today, so I was not going all the way home to get an EDC and then back out to do my errand. Nor am I going anywhere disarmed. My compromise was having my gun and holster locked in the trunk of "The Beast" while at the VA, riding in the escort, and while standing a flag line. However, after the conclusion of the ceremony and while no one was looking, I strapped on my holster and placed my 45 Shield in it. Since it had warmed up, I ditched my leather jacket, neck covering, and winter gloves. The gun was immediately covered by my vest and disappeared. I rode out right past police in the cemetery and no one was the wiser. Like I always say, my gun sitting safely in my holster harms no one. I do not discuss this issue with any PGR members, and let them all just think I am being a good boy.

Just A Mental Exercise, Nothing More

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Just A Mental Exercise, Forever I Hope

A Review - The 2021 Big 'E'

This year is the 39th time in a row that my wife and I have attended together. Last year, because of C-O-O-O-O-V-I-D! 😱 the normal fair held at the exposition grounds in West Springfield, MA was turned into a drive through food event only. You drove through in your vehicle and bought your fair food to go. The Log Cabin Restaurant in Holyoke did their "Taste of The Big 'E'" at their own facility on the side of Mt. Tom. My wife and I went with one of my biker buds on motorcycles. We had a nice lunch on their outdoor mountainside terrace overlooking the valley. Afterwards, we took the long way home east through MA and then headed south into Kommiecticut by way of Somers. While not the experience we are used to, I contend our record of attendance is intact.

This year the Big 'E' was happening at the exposition fairgrounds as normal. Well... almost. Right before it started, the city of West Springfield decided to institute a "Mask of Oppression" mandate just for the fair anytime you were inside the buildings. How'd that work out for them? Maybe 50% average compliance. Earlier in the day compliance was higher. We delayed going because it was raining pretty hard in the early morning, and it remained cool and cloudy until mid-morning. My wife wore her thin blue medical mask and I wore my 19th century train robber bandana. The way I wear it, it looks like it is covering my air intake/exhaust, but it is pulled up high on my face and there is almost ZERO restriction that way. It takes some extra fiddling for me to get it that way. In between buildings it was pulled down around my neck. As the morning wore on, the sun came out and by the afternoon it got warm, I just stopped putting my mask back up. So did my wife. So did a lot of other people. And NO ONE MADE A STINK! Outside, only the very few idiotic Branch-Covidians wore a face diaper walking around outside. One libtard ass-clown sitting outside with his wife by themselves on a bench nowhere near anyone were covered up, with their official "Biden-Harris" labeled face diapers virtue signalling all those around them how enlightened and extra special they were. I so wanted to take their photo to turn it into a meme, but they would have seen me and I had no intention of engaging with such morons even to lie to them.

In all the state buildings, we noticed lots of empty exhibitor floor space, and some of the permanent setups closed up with a sign saying "See You in 2022!" While outside in the open areas it was the same. Not as crowded with vendors and purveyors. At the main entrance to The Better Living Center, it is usually full of vendor tents, and 2 to 4 fundraisers raffling off cars and/or motorcycles. Nothing. Open pavement in the whole area. Inside The Better Living Center which is almost 3 acres of indoor exhibitor space is usually cram packed with fair-goers and exhibitors. Not this year. Again lots of open floor space and easy to walk around. Even though we always go on a weekday and it started out rainy, I believe attendance was off. I think it is because instead of a full year of planning like normal, the exposition was in doubt up until it was confirmed to occur a few short months ago. I assume many exhibitors and vendors went and made other commitments.

The Big 'E' has a no weapons policy, enforced by bag searches at the gate and metal detectors. Since I was in MA I was not carrying a firearm. But I sure did have a weapon. I possess a Blackie Collins poly resin serrated straight knife (aka The CIA Letter Opener) with an added para cord wrist loop. I carry that whenever I  have to pass through a metal detector. Airports are a different story, as the knife would get picked up on a full body scanner or x-ray. For those times it is packed in my checked luggage. While bringing a knife to a gunfight is never a good idea, the only guns inside the Big 'E' are hopefully on the hips of the numerous cops on the grounds.

This knife holds a pretty good edge and the serrations are nasty. I wish the handle were just a little more robust and the added wrist loop ensures I don't lose it in a fight. It sure would be a good offensive weapon too, say deployed from behind and jammed into an enemy's brain stem. But I digress.

This year's Big 'E' gives me hope that next year, people will be so fed up with all the BKT that the exposition will be like it always has been, and the wife and I will hit the Big Four-Oh anniversary of attendance.

The Safest Place In The State

This past Saturday was the Poker Run held by the CT Citizens Defense League (CCDL). It was more than just a motorcycle event, as cars and trucks participated as well. Most of the participants, myself included, were armed, and openly carried. I had my Smith and Wesson M&P 45 Shield in my DeSantis "Speed Scabbard" at 3 o'clock. While on my bike, I am not concerned if my properly holstered handgun is visible or not since open carry is legal. Since I follow the biker tradition of never removing my leathers, my gun is concealed if I have to stop somewhere. We were welcomed at every stop, and it was the final destination I write about here. There was a huge crowd that only came to the BBQ that was also well armed. It was a classic example of "an armed society is a polite society" as well as the last place there was going to be some act of violence perpetrated by some nut or jihadi. These were definitely my peeps, I mean... GUNS and MOTORCYCLES and good food.

Oh yeah, one other good thing... there was no hint of BKT to be seen any where. Between all the pro-Trump and 2A stuff for sale and lack of face diapers, it was like summer of 2017 all over again.

Another Firearms "Expert" Has a Negligent Discharge

 Hartford PD Deputy Chief under investigation for firearm discharge

Another shining example of the 90% from the "90-7-3 Rule" pertaining to law enforcement and firearms. I can't be too harsh on her though, because I had an N.D. once myself. Once. As in that was my "ONE." Luckily I was by myself, and the round went harmlessly into the ground. But talk about being scared straight, and that was almost 40 years ago. I never take a cleared weapon for granted, and I never pull the trigger unless A) I am about to fire, or B) it is required for disassembly, in which case C) the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction. As a refresher on the 90-7-3 Rule:

• 90% of LEO have one firearm, their duty weapon, which they begrudgingly qualify with once a year. They do not hunt, target shoot, plink, or compete off duty. In the event of a justified shooting, they will empty their magazine towards the perp and maybe hit them. IMHO, there should be no more than one or two shots fired, and unless the bad guy is wearing body armor, should result in a fatality every time. I am sure Deputy Chief Sonia Watson is one of these.
• 7% of LEO do own and use firearms outside of their normal duties. They will hunt, target shoot, plink and maybe even compete at a lower level by shooting clays, silhouette, bullseye, or at a turkey shoot. They might load their own ammo.
  
• 3% of LEO are truly firearms experts. They most likely grew up with firearms and served in the military. On the job they are instructors for other LEO and may be members of tactical teams. Not only do they participate in all types of recreation with firearms, they probably compete at a high level shooting like 3-Gun, Military, IPSC and IPDA. They are NRA safety instructors, Range Safety Officers, and belong to the local sportsman's club, teaching the civilian population firearms safety. They may even be advanced hand loaders, gunsmiths, and hold an FFL.

I am personally somewhere between the 7% and 3%. I'd like to get NRA certified as an instructor, but it is difficult and expensive to do here in Kommiecticut. To make it worth your while, you have to commit to holding regular classes like a side business, and I am not interested in doing that.

Don' Be Like This Guy!