Mission Report

Spc. Micheal D. Brown, 20, Williamsburg, KS, 27 OCT 07

The Ride Captain on this mission was Steamer with assistance from Debi. Steamer pays a lot of attention to details and thanks for everything you did to make this mission a success. We had other RCs with us such as Darkhorse, Doc, Kai and WestWind. It would not surprise me if there were more.

We had more that fifty Patriot Guards show up for the visitation and hold the flag line. Before we took our positions, Steamer thanked all for showing up and introduced Sherry. Ray led us in a prayer before surrounding the funeral home with our flags.

Sherry is a Soldier’s Angel who adopted Spc. Micheal Brown as one of her own to send letters and care packages. The Soldier’s Angels is an organization that makes sure that no soldier goes unloved. Sherry shared some information with us about how much Spc. Brown appreciated her and what she did for him. Sherry came all of the way from the state of Oregon to honor her Soldier. Sherry, Thanks for making the mission.

During the visitation, in talking with First Sgt. Steel, I mentioned to him that I thought we would have a good number of Patriot Guards for the funeral services.I told him that we had Stretch and Darkhorse with his crew coming in from the south, WestWind coming in from Lee’s Summit, MO., BoonDocker and T-Bird coming in from the North, Vance and others coming in from Topeka, Kai coming in from Manhattan and many more.

In the south Kansas City area, the very early cool morning light of the full moon we met at Doc’s Coffee Shop (McDonalds) in Lenexa, KS to start the day of this mission. We had twenty-five to thirty bikes heading southbound with about four cages. Along the way we picked up several riders at Gardner and others just simply joined in line along the way. We probably brought in about thirty-five bikes with our group.

Steamer conducted his staging meeting, welcomed all new comers, introduced Debi and then asked DarkHorse, one of our founding fathers to say a few words. Darkhorse stated he was proud of this organization that is just over two years old and indicated it was all of us showing up that make the mission. He also recognized all current Military Personnel servicing our Country. Bosco lead us in prayer before our departure.

At the staging, the number of bikes was so many and so spread out it was hard to count. Curt counted the bikes as he held his American Flag and counted the bikes as we headed toward Ottawa University for the services. Totally we had 210 bikes and twelve cages.

Doc, Thank you very much for putting Sherry on the back of your bike so she could personally experience what it feels like to ride in the open with the hundreds of bikes to honor her own Soldier’s Angels fallen soldier.

Toward the conclusion of the funeral services, a director of the University of Ottawa came forward to the Patriot Guard and yelled in almost the top of his voice. 'Thank you for coming to my Hometown!'

I want to thank a few people at this point, Post 400 with Cliffy, Drop Tank Willie and one other gentleman for the one set of flags and Debi with the other. I want to thank our very own Patriot Guard - Charles Liles for his beautiful playing of the bagpipes throughout the services.

The Patriot Guard reserved the eighty plus bikes with big flags for the escort of the hearse, family and friends to the cemetery and sent all of the other bikes and cages to the cemetery to prepare for their arrival. At the cemetery, Curt, NacNac, Debi and others set up flags along the sides of the road to the entrance and it was a beautiful sight to see upon arriving. Along the way I communicated with NacNac as to where the procession was. At the gravesite services, Spc. Micheal D. Brown, was buried with full military honors. I must say the playing of Taps was absolutely beautiful!

First Sgt. Steel told me after the gravesite services: 'I have heard about you guys, I have read about you and even seen you on the news but everytime I turn around all of you are doing something else special to honor of this soldier!'

The family was so very thankful of everything we were doing to honor their son show our support to the family. At the visitation, it seemed like every member of the family tried to make sure they communicated with each and everyone of us to make sure we knew their appreciation.

To the family of Spc. Micheal D. Brown, thanks for inviting us. Without your invitation, we could not be there to show our respects. We thank you for allowing us to show our respects and honor your loved one and our American Soldier. We hope our presence and actions in some way will help in the healing process of your loss. We hope all of the American Flags we held flying in the breeze will be a beautiful way to remember the day your loved one was laid to rest.

To Spc. Micheal D. Brown, we want to thank you for your devoted service in protecting our rights, freedoms and your sacrifice for our country.

Mission Complete

'AJ'