WarChild Riding Group
Sandy's Toddle Inn - Chaffee MO
Bikers Who Care – We Support:
Finding Cures – Saving Children
Free Spirit
Patriot Guard Riders Mission Statement
Notice - The PGR store is open since the first of the new year.
Thank you for your patience.
The Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse amalgamation of riders from across the nation. We have one thing in common besides motorcycles. We have an unwavering respect for those who risk their very lives for America’s freedom and security. If you share this respect, please join us.
We don’t care what you ride, what your political views are, or whether you’re a "hawk" or a "dove". It is not a requirement that you be a veteran. It doesn't matter where you’re from or what your income is. You don’t even have to ride. The only prerequisite is Respect.
Our 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.
1. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.
2. 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.
Folks, this is not just important…
It’s what we do!
Join Us!
RD - SE Missouri Ride Captain
Stars & Stripes Museum
 This Dayin History |
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Over the last 139 years, millions of copies of The Stars and Stripes have been distributed throughout the world. And, it all began during the Civil War in the town of Bloomfield, located in southeast Missouri. It was here on November 9, 1861 that ten Illinois Union soldiers, using the vacated press of The Bloomfield Herald, published the first "Stars and Stripes" which they named after the American flag. One of the original copies of that 1861 paper is now owned by the Stoddard County Historical Society and to be put on loan with the museum. The Stars and Stripes flourished during each of the five major wars this country has fought. |
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During World War II, General George C. Marshall referred to The Stars and Stripes "as a symbol of the things we are fighting to preserve...free thought and free expression of a free people". Many famous people have been connected with The Stars and Stripes: Cartoonist Bill Mauldin; Andy Rooney and Steve Kroft of "Sixty Minutes" were former Striper's as was Harold K. Ross, founder of the New Yorker magazine. Grantland Rice, Ernie Pyle and other war correspondents have also contributed to the newspaper. Several former S & S staff members and various war veterans have donated personal letters, unpublished behind-the-scenes reports, back issues of The Stars and Stripes and other interesting war-related items to be displayed or filed as reference material. |
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All this history will be preserved. A Stars and Stripes Museum/Library with climate-controlled storage, handicapped accessibility, display and meeting rooms will be invaluable for research. The facility serves historians, students and writers, as well as the general public. |
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Biker Lady Succumbs to Cancer
Coni Fitch, longtime biker
who left "huge footprint," dies at 58
By Susan Gilmore
Seattle Times staff reporter
Seattle WA -- When she began working as a flight attendant for United Airlines, Coni R.S. Fitch wrote a letter to her parents, telling them she loved them, in case her plane crashed.
When her daughter, Cirstan, was born, Coni Fitch rewrote the letter to her daughter, and then wrote it again to her family when she took up long-distance motorcycle riding.
Her family found the letter tucked in the bottom of a home safe, having no idea that she'd written it. The letter will be read at her memorial service Thursday.
Mrs. Fitch, 58, died Sept. 22 after a yearlong battle with appendix cancer.
She retired from United Airlines in 2005 after 36 years of service.
One of the last things she was able to do, said her husband, Graham, was attend Cirstan's graduation from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Mrs. Fitch, who was born in Spokane on July 11, 1949, developed her passion for motorcycles when she was 18 and couldn't afford a car.
"Everyone marveled at her," said Graham Fitch. "She owned 20 motorcycles, and she got me into motorcycle riding. The neighbors were in awe: the two of us, white-collar yuppies with a million-dollar home on the top of Clyde Hill."
For her 50th birthday, Graham Fitch bought his wife a Mercedes convertible, which she loved. But when she sold it six years later it had just 7,000 miles on it; her BMW motorcycle, purchased the same month, had 135,000 miles.
"Whenever the sun came out, she would jump on her motorcycle," he said.
The family would often take motorcycle trips, whether riding the islands of Hawaii or the roads of California. "I always felt safe on the back of her bike," Cirstan said.
Longtime friend Kathy Taggares would tell Coni that she was unique.
"She was the best athlete and the most intelligent of my friends," she said. "I don't know anyone who excelled at so many things she excelled in. She was loving, warm and kind and left a huge footprint on this Earth in a short time."
Mrs. Fitch had many trophies for her motorcycle exploits and was one of the few bikers who completed the 11,000-mile North American ride, going through every one of the lower 48 states.
Her husband said she never had an accident.
Mrs. Fitch also was a member of the Seattle Yacht Club, the Bellevue Athletic Club, the Swedish Hospital Summit Club, the Sun Valley Ski Club and the Seattle Tennis Club.
In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Fitch is survived by her brother, Denzil, from Montana; sister Sherry, from Kirkland; and mother Gladys, in Spokane.
The memorial service is scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday at the Seattle Tennis Club, 922 McGilvra Blvd. in Seattle. Her friends and family plan to drape her motorcycle with a saddle of white roses at the service.
The family asks that remembrances be made to Swedish Hospital Medical Center, 747 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98114.