PGR MISSION: WINDTHORST TEXAS: KENNETH "MARK" BROWN 3-11-2011

Friday, 3-11-2011, the North Texas PGR had a Mission which began at St. Mary's Church in Windthorst Texas, where the funeral services for Kenneth "Mark" Brown was being held. Mark had been a Firefighter and we were at the funeral at the family's request. Following the services, the internment was held at St. Boniface Cemetery in Scotland Texas. Scroll down and join nus on this Mission and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURES BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE.

We staged in the parking lot of Wal-Mart at SW Parkway & HWY 79 at 8:15 a.m. and went KSU at 8:45a.m. That gave us plenty of time to get to the church at Windthorst, Texas. Above shows the       PGR members gearing up to head South down US281.  From left to right are: Paul, Polar Bear, Ralph, Louis, Tim, Bud, Gary and Shawn.                                                                                                                 

Here we are heading South down US281. We had 19 bikes, 20 riders,. 1 Support Vehicle and 1 driver. An excellent turn out for a weekday PGR Mission.

Today's Tailgunner was Gary. As Jimmy did an excellent job of leading us today, Gary did a good job making sure everything went well on the way down to Windthorst Texas.    

                                        

We make it to Windthorst a short while later and pull into the parking area of St. Mary's Catholic Church. There is a Texas Historical marker at the Church. See the following link for more on St. Mary's Church in Windthorst :   :http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM64NJ_St_Marys_Catholic_Church_Windthorst_Texas

This is Shawn. In addition to being a PGR Member, he is also President of the Smoke & Iron Firefighters MC, Sta. 10., located out at Sheppard AFB which is located on the North side of Wichita Falls Texas. For more info on the Smoke and Iron Firefighters MC, see this link; http://smokeandiron.com/

This is the area where we parked our bikes. PGR members are now unfurling the flags and putting them on the bikes. The bikes with the big flags, will stay at the Church and escort the funeral procession to the Cemetery in Scotland Texas. The rest of us, when the services begin in the Church, will head up to the Cemetery at Scotland Texas, and get the static flag line in place and be ready with our flag line at the grave site.

PGR Ride Captain, Tex watches Jimmy (PGR Ride Captain) attach the big flags to his bike.

This is Angela. She and her husband, Nubbin, are Gold Star Parents and members of the PGR. For more info on the Gold Star Family's, see this link:  http://goldstarfamily.us/default.aspx

This is Paul Paul is a Vietnam Vet, a retired Master Sgt. (I think he said Master Sgt), and a member of the PGR

This is Polar Bear or Bear as I call him. He just got back from a cruise down to Cancun and some other Caribbean Islands. He loves those cruise ships. He also, was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident a while back. But he has recovered and now rides with us on his 08 Harley Ultra Classic. I  like talking to Bear, he is very interesting and I am glad to call him my friend.

This is Big Al.  Big Al is a member of the Green Knights Chapter 54 which is located out at Sheppard AFB. For more info on the Green Knights Chapter 54, see this link: http://www.texasgreenknights.org/gk54/

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We got the flags situated and then talked for a few minutes before we got in position to form a flag line. That's Bud in the Lone Wolf vest.. 

                                                                                                       

Jimmy gets everybody together and gives us the briefing and the order of events. Above is Jimmy as he talks to us.

After the briefing, we walk over to the Support vehicle and get a flag that we would hold in the flag line

The  members walk towards the stairs that lead up and into the Church sanctuary

The strong winds kept all the flags flying hard. The  flags here on Nubbins trike, Old Glory and the Firefighters flag, can attest to the strength of the wind,                                                                 

Tex, Jimmy and Nubbin went up the stairs several times and finally got the Firefighters to move the Fire Trucks down in front on the Church and are pictured here.                                                                   

The Flag line going up the stairs. PGR members in the flag line from bottom to the top of the stairs are: Gary, Nubbin, Angela, Paul, Trouble Maker, Richard, Bill, and Bud is at the top.                                                  

The flag line at the top of the stairs: The PGR member in the yellow shirt is Polar Bear, and the third member down is Shawn. I can't identify the others due to the flags covering them from the camera

Here is Tex, one of the hardest working individuals today. He must have gone up & down those steps 10-15 times. Here he takes a brief rest and checks his notes

 This is my good friend Bud.  He and I worked together for about 28 years and have been riding together for 4 years and I was witness to his m/c accident on I-35/US82 when we were coming back from a PGR       Mission in Purcell Oklahoma, back in August 2009. I am thankful, that although his bike was totalled, his injuries were minor, he got another bike and is still with us.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

This is the Texas Historical Marker at the base of the steps to St. Mary's Catholic Church.                         

Another view of the fire trucks parked in front of the Church. There was a good showing of Firefighters for their former co-worker, Mark Brown.

Here are Angela & Nubbin. They both work but between them, manage to make almost all of the PGR Mission. Plus they are good people and I am proud to call them my friends.

The winds are still blowing strong. At, least we will have a tail wind for most of the ride to the cemetery in Scotland Texas, which is about 6 miles North of Windthorst.                                                                  

The services starting, those of us  going to the cemetery gear up to go. That's Bud in the Red helmet, Shawn with his back to the camera displaying his Smoke & Iron Firefighters MC colors, and  Mad Mike.

Nubbin's trike & flags.He would be one of the big flag bikes escorting the procession to the cemetery in Scotland Texas                                                                                                                                    

This is Angela's trike. She will be in  the escort also. Angela has been on countless Missions with us and has no trouble handling that trike. For those lady viewers out there who want to ride but are unsure if you can      handle a 2 wheeler, then you might seriously consider a trike.                                                                    

As we head to the cemetery, we follow Tex in the Support Vehicle, above.                                            

Crazy Mike (road name only) waves when he sees me  raise the camera up facing to the rear. That is Big Al at the back and I think that is Bear in the middle.                                                                                        

We arrive at the St. Boniface Cemetery, in Scotland Texas and begin immediately setting up the static flag line

Here is Paul at the Support Vehicle getting ready to get some more flags for the static display

We parked our bikes behind the  cemetery along the road that ran beside the cemetery fence                                                                                    

Here is my good friend and fellow PGR member, Louis, as he gets more flags for the  static display...........

Here is Bear heading to the support truck to get some more flags.                                                               

The static flag line is almost complete, as one of the guys takes another load of flags to Trouble Maker, who was pounding the rebar into the ground, that the flag poles slid over.

 

We form the flag line up around the grave site, as the procession nears the cemetery. That's Bear to my immediate left...                                                                                                                                 

Following the service at the cemetery, we put the flags back into their bags in the Support Truck. From left to right are: Paul, Tex, Trouble Maker and Bear                                                                                          

This is Kenny I have know him almost 30 years. He is an EMT & Firefighter in Wichita Falls Texas.

We finish loading the flags into the Support vehicle, go and get on our bikes and leave. I catch up with Paul on Northbound US281 and get a picture of him riding. Last time he was with us and I rode, his bike was down and he was driving the support vehicle,  and I didn't have any pictures of him on his bike. So.....                                                                                            

The last pic taken today is of Paul as we head North up US281.                                                             

                                                                      
It was an honor to be part of this service for Mark Brown, an American Hero. It was good to ride with my PGR brothers and sisters again and to meet, Big Al, Ralph and Tim. I look forward to riding with them again.

Be sure to scroll down for more rides, events and runs and don't forget to click on the "OLDER POSTS" link at the bottom of  EACH page or underneath the last post on the page for more of the same.

Continue to pray for all of our troops, both in and out of Harms Way; especially for Che Whitaker, Chris Drage and Fred Hughes, all of whom are serving in the Afghanistan Theatre Of Operations.

Until next post, ya'll be careful out there, keep your head on a swivel, keep the rubber on the road and most importantly of all..........................RIDE SAFE!!! ........................JOHN