Every night, all across America, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers pray to their God and ask for all of our young men and women to return home soon and safely! The war will be over and if you can believe the predictions of Nostradamus, there will be peace for a thousand years. The Patriot Guard Riders will have performed whenever and where ever needed with patriotism and dignity. Our jobs as Patriot Guard Riders will almost be complete...ALMOST
What about all those torn by bullet and steel? Will their suffering and healing terminate when the war is over? For every service person killed there are 12 or more injured. Help on the Home Front (HOTH) will be there with compassion and will never let the injured feel neglect or lonely. HOTH will be there for the families of the wounded who have many miles to travel and little or no income to allow time away from work. We will be there for the Marine laying in a burn ward knowing he/she will never walk again on his/her own legs; the Soldier who pulled his/her buddy from a burning vehicle only to have his/her arms injured so badly he/she will probably lose one or both of them; the Airman whose medevac chopper was shot down and crashed leaving his/her pilot dead and him/her with no feeling below the waist; the Navy Corpsman who disregarded the order to stay down to help his/her wounded comrade in arms only to be hit himself/herself or the Coastie injured while in the rear where it was "safe".
They will not be home for a very long time. The hardships they will face are something few will be able to contemplate. HOTH will be there for them...
HOTH is in place to augment those who were fortunate enough not to have to pay the ultimate price but will pay a very dear price for you and me. Throughout the United States, there will be a concerted effort by HOTH teams to let these fine young Americans know they are appreciated and wanted. It is hoped each State Captain will have a HOTH team in place to assist the wounded and their families in adjusting to their new way of life. Anyone who has been on a mission has seen the gratitude shown by the families of the fallen. HOTH teams will see the families who know they have hope for the future and show those families they will not be alone. As long as we have beds at Balboa, Walter Reed and Brooke Army Medical Center (or anywhere else), the Patriot Guard Riders will ride for our young heroes.
Think of being from New York and then losing a limb. Now all of a sudden you are in San Antonio, Texas at Brooke Army Medical Center where everyone talks funny and there are no seasonal changes. Then this biker dude comes into your room and asks you what you need or would like to have. Yeah sure, another one of those do-gooders who stop by for the "photo op" but then they are history. You probably will not believe him but then next week he comes back with the same question. You feel it is a fad for the dude and he will go away. After the fifth or sixth visit you start to think this "dude" is the real thing.
That is what HOTH is. The real thing that shows the wounded we as a nation care about their well being.
Get involved! Your life will never be the same. The injured or displaced soldier, sailor, airman, coastie or Marine will never be the same either. All because you made the difference. Sounds like one of those commercials for aide to feed the kids in some place you will never, ever be. Nope - this is the real thing that you can reach out and touch and laugh and cry with. All it takes is you caring...
Renee can send out the official mission accomplished post, because she has all the names and details. I just want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the team that came down from Moundsville to put up the deck for the Chevalier Family. I had the opportunity to work with these fine folks on Saturday, and let me tell you, they worked!
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I would like to let everyone know that The United Mine Workers Local 1473 completed the deck and stairs for Bret's house. We left Moundsville around 6:30 am and we met with Renee around 10:00 am in Nitro, WV. After arriving at the Chevalier’s home and meeting Billinda Bret’s wife (what a wonderful and loving women she is), we all knew this was not going to be an easy job. It was quite a chore with all the concrete we had to work around and digging holes but after we got it framed in it went rather well. Brett came out to meet everyone around 1:00 pm he shook each and everyone of our hands and thanked us, but I can tell you this after meeting Brett all the thanks in the world goes to him. Brett is a joy to be around the stories that he remembers the jokes he tells and just to talk to him made each of us want to work harder and do as much as we could for him and his family. We would all be working and every once in awhile Bret would look out the door or come out to sit and watch and talk and you would see him give you a thumbs up. Seeing that and the smile on his face meant more to us than anyone will ever know.
It took us until Sunday night to finish the deck we all had agreed that we where not leaving until we knew Bret and his family had a safe way in and out of their home. We had one last surprise for the family that each of us had agreed to do and keep it as a surprise. We donated an American flag and a welcome mat for the Chevalier’s. And before it was to dark we asked Renee if she could have the family go inside. We put a mount up for the flag and then asked the family to come back out. Bret was the first out and we told him that we had one last thing that had to be done to his new deck and he had to do it. We handed him the flag pole and gave him the honor of putting it up on his deck with his family.
This experience was heart warming, amazing and we have all agreed to go back in the spring and do more work for them. The Chevalier’s made us feel like family and each of us miss them and wish that we had more time to help with other improvements.
I'd like to thank fellow UMWA Brothers, Shan Michener, Mike Kelley, Dan Smith and Chris Ward. Also I'd like to thank my wife Susan and my son Zach for all there help. Buddy thank you for stopping by and helping for the day we sure needed the extra person. A very important thank you goes to Renee for the time you give and the work you do for this family and all others and thanks for the pizza. Thanks to Denny Pickens (President UMWA LOCAL 1473) for allowing the guys and I to help on this. Most of all I want to thank Bret and his family for allowing the UMWA Local 1473 and our family’s to help on this project it was a pleasure to come down and meet each of you and to help you have one less bump in the road.
All I can say about the whole weekend is that I will never forget why I joined the West Virginia Patriot Guard Riders, and never will I stand in the shadows and not step forward to help our wounded soldiers.
Mike Whitlatch
WV PGR
UMWA Local 1473 Chairman H.O.T.H
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