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Patriot Guard Riders Forum
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| Author |
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Susan Sturgis 
Posts: 7069
Bear, DE
In Memory of Ed "Old Iron" Barrett
FORUM MODERATOR
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| 29 Jun 2009 4:29 PM |
 Alert
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The Patriot Guard Riders have been asked to attend and participate in the Welcome Home for Army Sergeant Matthew Bertron. The soldier, along, possibly, with two fellow soldiers, will be arriving home from a year in Afghanistan at 5:10 PM (1710) on Thursday, July 2nd.
We will stage at the Chevron Station, 1747 N 1st St, San Jose, Ca, at 4:15 PM (1615) on Thursday.
http://tinyurl.com/5lgf5f
We will KSU to the San Jose Airport at 4:30 PM (1630) and establish a Flag Line. After the Welcome Home at the San Jose Airport, we will provide a motorcycle escort to the final destination.
RC -
Family, Supporters, and Riders:
To be notified of any last minute changes (ie arrival times/delays), and to post any messages to the individual and their family, please go to the thread/link below and in the upper left hand corner check the box that says "Email me when someone replies to this thread". And if there are any last minute changes we will post them to this page and you will get an
email.
Doug Lyvere
SgtMaj, Marine ret
Assistant State Captain, PGR
www.patriotguard.org
415-309-2510 |
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BootLady
#34204
TOU Enforcement Agent
"In God We Still Trust" Diamond Rio - Diamond Rio's Greatest Hits II
"You may die with nothing, but if you have brought a rainbow into somebody else's life, your mission is complete." |
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mailman
Posts: 21723
West Branch, MI - Michigan Regional Ride Captain Zephyrhills, FL - Florida Senior Ride Captain
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| 29 Jun 2009 7:07 PM |
Alert
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| Welcome Home SGT Bertron!! Thank you Matthew for your servie to our Nation!! |
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"Eyes on the olive branch, but arrows at the ready."
Jim
"mailman"
US Army 1970 - 1972 |
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sbrbrat
Posts: 256
El Cajon, CA
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| 29 Jun 2009 8:04 PM |
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| Hey, Matthew, welcome home! Thank you for your dedicated service to this great country of ours and for keeping our freedom and our way of life. You are truly an American hero! May God continue to bless you and keep you safe, my little brother~ |
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Linda aka sbrbrat
United States Navy Veteran
1974-1978
Proud PGR Member #146206 |
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sdoise
Posts: 8050
Kinder, La.
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| 30 Jun 2009 8:22 AM |
Alert
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| Welcome home Sgt. Bertron. Thank you for your service to preserve our way of life. |
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Schelly "Toro"
Ride Captain for Lake Charles, La. and surrounding area
American Legion Post 318, Elton, La.
DEFINITION OF A VETERAN
A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."
Author Unknown |
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a1scoot
Posts: 32
San Jose, Calif.
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| 30 Jun 2009 3:12 PM |
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Wecome home Sgt. Bertron!
Thank you for the sacrifices you have made for our country and way of life.
Standing by in San Jose,
Al Draeger
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1texasrider
Posts: 628
North Texas
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| 01 Jul 2009 1:14 PM |
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| Welcome home, SGT Matthew Bertron. Thank you for your service and dedication to this great country. We are forever grateful for your service to preserve our way of life and the freedoms of this great nation. |
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Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
- Winston Churchill
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
- John F. Kennedy |
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swanner
Posts: 356
Lafayette, IN
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| 02 Jul 2009 5:34 AM |
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| Welcome home Sgt. Matthew Bertron. Thank you for your service. God bless you...Stan (Formerly from Stockton) |
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Cranky
Posts: 627
San Jose, Ca 95136
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| 02 Jul 2009 9:52 PM |
Alert
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I took a few pics, I'll post the blog here, instructions in the blog.
http://pgrblogseries2009.blogspot.com/2009/07/pgr-army-sergeant-matthew-bertron-sjc.html
Pics are from top to bottom, click on a pic for a larger pic, text for a pic is under the pic.
We
had a short notice welcome home so I thought I'd better make it as
maybe not many would show up... 20 bikes! Outstanding! Thanks to all
that ride! You make the difference!
A pic of some of the bikes...
The group meeting...
We get to the airport..
Nice line of bikes!
Here
we are lurking in the hallway! GBG (Great Big Grin) We had quite a few
troops come thru! We cheered them and saluted and gave them a great
welcome home! Finally our "target" came thru and he shook all our
hands.. then slapped Dad!!! It was a friendly slap!!! GBG There was a
big hug behind it! He was very happy with the welcome home ride, we
heard later.
It was a nice ride and traffic was kind to us. We were in rush hour, and it all flowed quite nice!
Bikes parked everywhere.. we were very quiet coming into the neighborhood.... har...
We are all gathering at home...
Rich
(red cap) was telling Matt about our "requirements", he has to accept a
pin, a hug, Chappi was there and offered a prayer, and of course, the
group pic!
And we had
another bonus! Matt's brother was a two time sandbox Marine, Rich is
Marine and that could NOT go without notice! He never got his welcome
home, so today was his day! We all gave him the same hugs, and love we
gave for Matt and all that return!
My
last pic of the group talking it up after the group pics... Very good
mission! Thanks to the Bertron family for inviting us! It was a
pleasure and honor to be there!
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Bill (Cranky) Snodgrass
AL/ALR PGR VROC USAF 63-67
San Jose, Ca 95136
01 Nomad Maroon / Silver
Ruby is drop dead gorgeous!!!!
http://www.vroc.org/view_profile.php?user_id=19879
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erniezap
Posts: 4
Campbell, CA
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| 04 Jul 2009 5:13 PM |
Alert
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Here's a link to the pics that my wife Kimberly took:
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1423978013/a=85212184_85212184/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/ |
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52yankee
Posts: 99
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| 06 Jul 2009 5:28 PM |
Alert
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The PGR was asked to do a Welcome Home for Sgt. Matthew Bertron. I returning Sandbox Soldier (Cavalry, as I was told). We staged at our usual San Jose staging area and met Mom and Dad there. Mom was just estatic with the turnout. She couldn't believe we could put together such a mission at 1600 (4:00pm) hours during the week. But that is what the PGR does best. We explained to Mom and Dad just what we would be doing. After the flag line at the airport we would leave and stage at the Freeway entrance for the escort home.
At the airport we had some bonus time. As we were waiting, another family told us that their son was coming home on the same flight and he was Navy. Of course, he got to walk down our flag line. The parents now know who the PGR is and will be asking for an escort for their next son (a Navy Seal) when he comes home. We also honored a soldier who came in on another flight. Was he surprised and thrilled. After Matthew came thru our flag line, his cousin Andrew, a 2 time sandbox Marine was walked thru the line by Diane Layfield, a Gold Star Mom.
We left the airport for staging and waiting for our soldier and his family. They got there real quick. Now remember, we were in the middle of rush hour traffic in San Jose. Not the best time to go down Rt. 87. As we entered the freeway, cars slowed down to let us get over to the Commute Lane. Surprisingly, the traffic was light until one area and then all but the commute lane stopped or was moving very slowly. We reached the point where we needed to get over to the right. At a break we started moving over and a guy in a pickup started slowing down to let us all in front of him. The same thing happened getting into the right lane. People slowed down to let us get over. Everything on the escort to the soldier's home was a smooth as glass. Not a problem anywhere. It was a site to see! People just seemed to know enough to let us proceed. That doesn't happen every day.
At the home, we dismounted and talked to family and friends for a short while. Matthew and his Mom and Dad just couldn't believe the escort. Matthew felt truly honored by everything. Well, we weren't done yet. We told him there was a price to pay for our service.
Since Matthew was Army, I asked Brada Panak, (Viet Nam Army Vet) to present the Thank You Pin to Matthew. Panak is from Hawaii and told Matthew everybody did this a little different. He spoke to him in Hawaiian and then translated what he said. Outstanding job, Panak!
Next, you remember his cousin? Being a Viet Nam Marine Vet, I told everyone we has another presentation to make. We had a 2 time sandbox Marine that never got a Welcome Home. I looked at him and said, "Front and Center, Marine". At that time, I had the honor to present Andrew with a belated Welcome Home and a Thank You Pin! Needless to say, he was surprised and thrilled. Two young men who served our country and deserved to be recognised.
Acknowledgements- Thanks to the following:
Moose- rode up frnt with me for the first time
Panak- great presentation of the pin
Howard and Don- our Road Guards
Also, thanks to everyone who participated today. It was a pleasure RC'ing this mission because of all of you. Your patience and dedication to the mission are outstanding. We had four first time riders and they fell right in and made the mission so much better. Thank you all and I hope to see you at the next mission.
Mission Stats
Bikes 20
New Riders 4
Cages- 4
Affiliate Organizations Present
ALR (some are always there)
HOG
Moose
If I missed any other organizations, it was just an oversite and I thank you for being there.
Respectfully,
Rich Martin
Mission RC |
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