Farewell (edited)
In the high school gym where we all walked across the same stage to get our diplomas, the town said farewell to Jessie this morning. Hundreds of people, many I'm sure didn't even know Jessie, came to pay their respects to a man who knew what he believed, and put his life on the line to protect it.
When you live in a town of about 1200 people, it's a pretty awesome sight to go down Main Street and see close to 250 bikes and their leather-clad riders (led by Ralph Rojas, Garden City-area state ride captain for the Patriot Guard Riders) lined up in front of the high school. I never saw any protesters, maybe they are saving their wrath for his funeral, or maybe they saw all those bikers and decided to turn tail and go home. Either way, I'm glad they didn't show.
The only thing that bothered me, and maybe it shouldn't have, quite a few of those people at that memorial wouldn't have given Jessie the time of day if they passed him on the street. It doesn't really matter now, what matters is that somewhere, I'm sure Jessie knows that they were there, to help show that we are proud of him, as we are of all our soldiers who give their lives to protecting us, whether they come home alive or in spirit, like Jessie.
(EDIT: I saw on the news that the protesters did show up at Jessie's graveside services. Reverend Phelps and his scraggly band of 6 or 7 protesters, with their upside down burnt American flags, signs saying "God hates your son" and "Your son will burn", and one woman spitting on a wadded up flag, stood about 100 yards from the funeral services. His funeral was held at the Soldier's Cemetery at Fort Dodge, just outside Dodge City.
About 90 yards from the protesters stood a long line of gleaming motorcycles in a neat even line, each displaying large waving American Flags, perfectly shielding Jessie's family and friends from seeing or hearing the protesters. HERE is the link to watch the televison news story in Windows Media, Jessie, the protesters, Governor Sebelius who was at Jessie's funeral, and an old man in overalls, Mr. M.T. Liggett, who is one of the more famous and colorful residents of Hick County who tells it like it is....)
posted by Amethyst Rising at 9:01 AM
4 Comments:
Hey Am. I couldn't get the link to work. I remember my dad's funeral. He was part of a motorcycle club (no, not HOGS). When the hearse left the funeral home, there was a long line of bikes behind it. What a sight! Made me cry just looking at them. This is a great entry.
Let's try that link again:
http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/2409441.html
I'll change it in the story, too... Thanks Jules.
I remember my adopted dad's funeral... I did ok until they played Taps, and I lost it...
The link worked! Thanks. The bikes were awesome. Was that in your town or nearby? I was quite the mess at my dad's funeral too. Sometimes I still tear up when I see a group of bikes going somewhere. We had such fun!
Jessie lived here, and the memorial was here, but his mother had moved to Dodge City a few years ago, and his funeral was held there, the footage was from the cemetery, which is a Soldier's Cemetery at Fort Dodge, about 5 miles east of Dodge City.
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