Jan and I took a kind of long distance tour on Saturday to visit a few of the places that I have been to on Patriot Guard missions in the last couple of years. As is usual in my photo layout, if you read from the bottom up they will be in the proper order. We headed out Saturday morning with our cooler full of peanut butter sandwiches, soft drinks, and snacks. The first stop was at Duvi Wolf's grave site in Farmer, South Dakota. As can be seen by the photo, no gravestone is in place yet, but since her funeral was late last Fall I assume that no stone could be placed yet. We usually make several trips a year to Rapid City and the Black Hills, so I'll check back in the future to see how things are progressing. Farmer is another small town on the prairie that is virtually disappearing. I imagine that being bypassed by the interstate and having the railroad tracks removed didn't help. They actually had a high school up until 1968. It makes me wonder what the town was like in the 50's and 60's. I know that the small town - Ormsby population 220- that I came from, in 1960 could almost fill up a school bus with kids. Today I am sure there is no more than a hand full of kids in Ormsby, Minnesota. I digress, from there we headed mostly north to Willow Lake, South Dakota where the PGR helped dedicate a veteran's memorial in the city park. It is another very nice memorial in a small town with a special part for a local son Scott Saboe, who was a 33 year old helicopter pilot in Iraq when he was killed in action. I don't know if I am more aware of these memorials or that there are more of them being erected, but it seems as if I have run across a lot of them in the last few years. Anyhow, from there we headed east back to Minnesota to Dawson to visit the grave site for David Staab. It is at another rural cemetery that is kind of bleak this time of year. Sgt. Staab's headstone is unique with all of the etchings on it. I wonder what someone 1 or 200 years from now will think of the Chevy pickup? Sgt. Staab who took his own life after returning from Iraq is as much a combat death as anyone killed in action on the battlefield. His was one of the toughest funerals that I have attended, but I am afraid that it won't be the last. Next we headed north to check out a possible campsite at Lac Qui Parle state park. We couldn't do much recon there because of high water on the Minnesota river. The next stop was Lucan to show Jan the site of Captain Dan Days which I attended last year and had such a good time, as a matter of fact I have been to a couple of missions there. Lucan is a patriotic small town with a nice park and a brewery too, we took the tour last year. The last stop was at Eli and Lindsey's for a night cap, all in all we had a really nice day. The last few pictures are from last weekend when the whole tribe was at our place for an early Easter dinner. The Theobalds stayed over Friday night so we got a few on Saturday morning. Well, that's about it from here for now. The weather has taken a turn for terrific so I have had all of the bikes out for runs and oil changes and the 94 Ducati, Francesca, is running pretty good too after carburetor cleaning and fresh gaskets, new rubber, and battery. After the last winter we deserve it. Take care and stay in touch.
Jan and I took a kind of long distance tour on Saturday to visit a few of the places that I have been to on Patriot Guard missions in the last couple of years. As is usual in my photo layout, if you read from the bottom up they will be in the proper order. We headed out Saturday morning with our cooler full of peanut butter sandwiches, soft drinks, and snacks. The first stop was at Duvi Wolf's grave site in Farmer, South Dakota. As can be seen by the photo, no gravestone is in place yet, but since her funeral was late last Fall I assume that no stone could be placed yet. We usually make several trips a year to Rapid City and the Black Hills, so I'll check back in the future to see how things are progressing. Farmer is another small town on the prairie that is virtually disappearing. I imagine that being bypassed by the interstate and having the railroad tracks removed didn't help. They actually had a high school up until 1968. It makes me wonder what the town was like in the 50's and 60's. I know that the small town - Ormsby population 220- that I came from, in 1960 could almost fill up a school bus with kids. Today I am sure there is no more than a hand full of kids in Ormsby, Minnesota. I digress, from there we headed mostly north to Willow Lake, South Dakota where the PGR helped dedicate a veteran's memorial in the city park. It is another very nice memorial in a small town with a special part for a local son Scott Saboe, who was a 33 year old helicopter pilot in Iraq when he was killed in action. I don't know if I am more aware of these memorials or that there are more of them being erected, but it seems as if I have run across a lot of them in the last few years. Anyhow, from there we headed east back to Minnesota to Dawson to visit the grave site for David Staab. It is at another rural cemetery that is kind of bleak this time of year. Sgt. Staab's headstone is unique with all of the etchings on it. I wonder what someone 1 or 200 years from now will think of the Chevy pickup? Sgt. Staab who took his own life after returning from Iraq is as much a combat death as anyone killed in action on the battlefield. His was one of the toughest funerals that I have attended, but I am afraid that it won't be the last. Next we headed north to check out a possible campsite at Lac Qui Parle state park. We couldn't do much recon there because of high water on the Minnesota river. The next stop was Lucan to show Jan the site of Captain Dan Days which I attended last year and had such a good time, as a matter of fact I have been to a couple of missions there. Lucan is a patriotic small town with a nice park and a brewery too, we took the tour last year. The last stop was at Eli and Lindsey's for a night cap, all in all we had a really nice day. The last few pictures are from last weekend when the whole tribe was at our place for an early Easter dinner. The Theobalds stayed over Friday night so we got a few on Saturday morning. Well, that's about it from here for now. The weather has taken a turn for terrific so I have had all of the bikes out for runs and oil changes and the 94 Ducati, Francesca, is running pretty good too after carburetor cleaning and fresh gaskets, new rubber, and battery. After the last winter we deserve it. Take care and stay in touch.
3 comments:
Well, fill that cooler with p.b. sandwiches and pop, and I'll follow you anywhere. It was a VERY nice weekend, hon! Looking forward to more...
Dad, I'm so glad that you do these things...here I am, surrounded every day by men and women who have been downrange, but who made it home to tell the story. I'm glad that you remember and honor those of them that didn't.
Pete, I'm sure you'll never know how much the families treasure the Patriot Guards' presence at the funerals of their loved ones. Bless you for being a part of it.
Thanks to you and Jan for including me in your Easter dinner. I had a very nice time!
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