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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Patriot Guard Riders Honor Veterans
35 military vets receive delayed honors for service to country
Other ceremonies are set to remember 'American heroes'
Kathy Chaney had tears in her eyes as uniformed military servicemen and veterans conducted a ceremony Wednesday in Salem to honor 35 military veterans who died within the past year, including Chaney's father, Allen Spicer.
The ceremony honored veterans from all branches of the military who did not receive full military honors at the time of their deaths.
Leather-clad, flag-waving bikers of the Patriot Guard Riders attended the ceremony, which featured military honors including taps, played by Sgt. 1st Class John Skelton, a three-rifle salute and a ceremonial folding of the flag.
Sam Statler and his sisters Margaret DeMoss and Janett Frye attended the ceremony to honor their father, Woodrow.
"It is great they don't forget them," Statler said. "He was sitting with us."
Army National Guard Chaplain John Dinsmore and Brig. Gen. Charles Yriarte, commander of the 82 Brigade Troop Command, both spoke, followed by "Amazing Grace," performed on the bagpipes by John Moritz of the Veterans Commemoration Association. The 11 members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3965 from Corvallis spoke and saluted the flag, which then was folded and presented to Jim Willis, the director of the Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs.
"I am thankful we have not forgotten those who we honor here today," Yriarte said. "They are true American heroes."
The veterans did not receive military honors upon their deaths for a variety of reasons: for some, there was no next-of-kin to decide, for others, family members did not wish to include military honors at the time, and for others still, they did not know how to contact someone with the Oregon National Guard Military Funeral Honors Team, Staff Sgt. Richard Lawrence said.
The team decided to hold the ceremony because it noticed a number of veterans buried daily without military honors. They contacted funeral homes in the Salem area and found that people were unaware or unsure of how to use the program.
Wednesday was the first of many monthly or quarterly mass-honor ceremonies to be held in seven regions around the state to honor veterans, Lawrence said.