In mid March a friend was flying into Tulsa to visit her parents. I offered to pick her up from the airport. While she was waiting to change planes in Denver, she sent me a picture of a flag draped casket being loaded or unloaded to (or from) the plane she was about to board. She did some quick research and discovered one of the most recent soldiers killed in action in support of Operation Epic Fury was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. This must have been him.
We were both moved by this because my son was killed in action in 2009 and was received at our home airport. My heart ached for the sacrifice this young man and his family just made. I arrived at the airport early and made the turn to wait in the cell phone lot.
As I rounded the corner I saw the parking lot was half filled with motorcycles lined up and facing the exit. My heart skipped a beat. There is only one reason for motorcycles to be lined up in an airport cell phone lot; to escort the body of a veteran or a fallen service member.
I knew this from my own experience and wondered if the casket my friend saw was the same one these motorcycles would be escorting. I parked my car, approached someone and asked why they were there. I happened to choose one of the ride captains and State Chapter Enforcer, Jack Foster, a/k/a, Wingnut, who informed me they were there to escort a fallen soldier, however, it wasn’t the young man from Ft. Carson.
It felt serendipitous that my friend and I were witness to such escorts on the same day. I shared with Jack that I was the mother of a fallen soldier and appreciated what they were doing. There were about fifty other men and women standing around the small sea
of motorcycles. Most were wearing vests with various identifying patches of which motorcycle club they belonged. Motorcycle Clubs or MC’s are often given a bad rap and thought to be associations of my own experience, I knew this was not true. I honored my son for twelve years with a fund raising event (in my home state) that included a motorcycle ride, silent auction and dinner. At my son’s homecoming, wake, funeral and at the annual fundraiser, the presence of motorcycle clubs played a significant role in the legacy of each of these events. I came to know and admire individual members and count many as friends to this day. The people I know as members of an “MC” are some of the most selfless, generous and kind people I have met. The escorts for fallen service members came to be by a non profit called the Patriot Guard Riders. The PGR is a group of all volunteer motorcycle riders (although not required) born to protect fallen soldiers from after 9/11. They are committed to making sure no one is treated in the disrespectful manner those coming home from Vietnam were.
Wingnut is a member of the American Veteran Motorcycle Club.
There are currently six chapters in Oklahoma and close to twenty in other states. He agreed that MC’s get a bad rap, while noting that his chapter participates in more than 25 events each year, many of which support veterans and veteran causes. The day after we met, the AVMC were riding in an event that supported the Claremore Veterans Center.
I asked Wingnut what being a member of AVMC meant to him. He said he felt a sense of brotherhood and camaraderie amongst people who understand and are supportive of each other. They are a “band of brothers” who have all served or are still serving, in all branches of the military. In a statement following the escort the day we met, the AVMC said “The American Veterans Motorcycle Club, Affiliates Motorcycle Club along with several other veteran motorcycle associations, had the honor of escorting Army Combat Engineer Tanner Keagan Gene Hodges home to Miami, Oklahoma. It was a solemn privilege for the AVMC to stand in support of a fellow service member and his family to ensure he was escorted home with the respect and honor he earned through his service.”
The fallen service member from Ft.Carson was SGT Benjamin Pennington.
May they both rest in peace. That kind of honor and respect comes from more than just a motorcycle club. • by Jill Stephenson, staff writer
Inset photo:Jack Foster, a/k/a, Wingnut, State Enforcer for the OK American Veteran Motorcycle Club.
