Motorcyclists ride to aid of families, Patriot Guard shields troops' grieving kin from Phelps pickets
When Kansas minister Fred Phelps and his church began picketing the funerals of fallen soldiers and Marines, a handful of Kansas motorcyclists decided to fight back.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4563439,00.html
By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News
March 23, 2006
In mid-October, the Patriot Guard Riders were born. Today, the volunteer group says it has nearly 20,000 members nationwide and is growing every day. The deputy executive director of the group is from Windsor and almost 600 members live in Colorado.
The group, composed mostly of military veterans, keeps track of funeral services for soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. If they get permission from the mourning family, dozens if not hundreds of Patriot Guard volunteers stand outside the services to hold American flags, acting as an honor guard.
They attend the services both to support the families and to shield them from the Phelps pickets.
The members stand with their backs to the protesters and refer to them as "uninvited guests" rather than by name.
The main Web site of Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church attacks the Patriot Guard, calling them "biker cowards" and "necromancers."
The Phelps protesters appear at about a third of the military funerals, according to Patriot Guard Riders deputy executive director Jason Wallin, of Windsor.
Many Patriot Guard members see their work - which they refer to as "missions" - as a way to serve their country and fix past mistakes.
During the Vietnam War, "Nobody got thanked when they lost a son," said Gus Quist, a Fort Collins motorcyclist who serves as the group's Colorado captain. "They got called names.
"Enough is enough. We need to make sure these families know that we care for their loss."
Members of the Patriot Guard Riders do not have to be veterans or motorcyclists.
"The only prerequisite is that you have respect for what these soldiers are doing," said David Hall, the Colorado Springs ride captain.