PGR MISSION: WELCOME HOME SPC. FRED HUGHES 3-15-09

Sunday, 3-15-09, the PGR had a Welcome Home Mission, for Spc. Fred Hughes, who had just returned from a 15 month tour of Iraq. We staged in front of his in-laws house in Iowa Park Texas at 1615 hrs. (4:15 p.m. for all you civilian types --grin--). Scroll down and check out this Hero's home coming and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE..





Russ & Linda came by the house and got me at 3:30 p.m. and we headed to Iowa Park Texas. As we went North on FM 369. I got this pic of the furled flags on Russ's bike.

He did an excellent job on the brackets and flag mountings...

We got to Bell Rd, just down the street from the staging area and we stopped and unfurled the flags. Looks good, doesn't it?

At the staging area are several PGR members. Here are Tex and Ted.

Here are Ted Jr., Kenny, and Ted. It is a rare occasion when Ted misses a PGR Mission. He is a good friend and I try to take an extra pic or two of him, Ted Jr & Kenny for his daughter Vickie who lives in Ft. Collins Colorado and is a frequent viewer of this blog. Vickie and her husband Tim, have a Harley, ride it all over and have a great blog also. Check out their blog at this link: http://ourharleydays.blogspot.com/

Ted Jr, Kenny (A.K.A Scarecrow) and Ted

Kenny, me & Ted as we wait for others to arrive

This is C.T. and Tex at C.T's bike

Hey Ted, turn around.... Turn around Ted... Ted? Oh well, check out the back of Ted's leather jacket..

C.T. & Tex at Tex's bike..

Let's see. Here are from left to right: C.T., the unknown PGR Member, Tex, Ted & Ted Jr.

C.T., the unknown PGR member turned around and ID'd as Scarecrow, Tex, Ted & Ted Jr.

This is Cayla & Kirby. Cayla is Kirby's daughter

Here are Randall & Jeri. I enjoyed meeting them today and hopefully they will ride with us again..

Here is Shadow. I haven't seen him in awhile but he was in a good mood as always..

Here is P.J & BreeAnna. A few missions ago, he arrived on a chopped 52 Triumph and I made a comment on the blog about it leaking worse than my 74 AMF Harley I had. P.J. says he caught hell from everyone over that picture.. Heck, I thought it was a good picture and his Triumph sounded great...

This is Valerie & Richard. They were with us last Sunday on the ride to Rhineland Texas. I have their email address now and they are now on the ride notification list. So, look for them on our regular & impromptu runs as well as the PGR missions

This is Jody, Kirby's wife. Look for her pics of this mission on the next post.. She had been talking to Ted when I rudely interrupted and told her to smile

Ted, as we chat while waiting word to get the flags.

There were quite a few PGR members attending this Mission. It impressed the neighbors so much that they wanted to join in the flag line to honor Spc.. Hughes. They were allowed to help out..

Jody & Katie pause for a picture while we wait to start the flag line..

Here is Tex. He told us that of all his medals, he is proudest of his CIB. The CIB is a very coveted award, given only to those that have been in combat while assigned to an Infantry Unit. For more on the C.I.B (Combat Infantryman Badge), see this link: http://www.americal.org/awards/cib.htm

I snuck up on our PGR Road Captain, Barbara, while she was putting on makeup in Mike's truck. Mike is Barbara's husband, who is also our PGR Road Captain. He brought the truck because he had all the flags... Barbara rode her bike..

A view down the street, as we await word to get ready

This is Savannah, Barbara & BreeAnna. Like a dummy I didn't ask, but I think they are Barbara's grand kiddo's

Some of the PGR bikes

Russ & Linda wait for the word to get the flag line started

Left to right: Ted Jr, C.T., Randall, Jody, Tex & Katie

Left to Right: Richard, Valerie, Ted, Kenny, Ted Jr & C.T.

Texas's own, Linda

Russ & I are more like brothers than friends...

We get the flags and head down the street. This is Katie, followed by Cayla

Kirby & Jody in position

This is Beverly, Fred's mother-in-law, and Barbara..

Richard, Fred's father-in-law, shows a t-shirt Fred brought back from Iraq. You have to click on the picture to see the wording..Very Cool!!! Richard said you can not get this shirt here in the USA.

PGR bikes

Barbara talks to Beverly & Richard. That circle drive in front of their house is where Fred will be pulling in upon his arrival here

Kirby moves the trash bins back out of the way...

Russ heads back to the truck for another flag as they were short one flag down the street

A view down the street

Russ returns from the truck. The flags on his bike were fluttering behind him...

A view down the street. That's Shadow to my immediate right

A view across and down the street

Another view down the street

Mike is way down at the end where the street T-bones into Bell. He is our early warning system that will tell us when Fred is approaching...

The intersection at Saratoga St.

Family, friends & neighbors now start getting flags to join in the flagline

Friends and neighbors head down the street to join the line. The family had the flags up near the residence

This is Chris, a good friend of Fred

And here is Fred arriving. He was surprised and said afterwards that he didn't know whether to stop or drive. He took his second option and drove on down to the house amid a great round of applause from family, friends, neighbors and PGR members.

The end of the flag line follows Fred to the house

As Fred gets out of the truck, Barbara gets a hug from Steve, Fred's dad. Steve is a Vietnam Vet and said he was happy to see his son get this kind of welcome home and not the kind that Vietnam Vets got..

The flag line proceeds up the street and as the line passes, the rest of the line falls in place and joins in...

As they approach me, I get this picture of C.T., Ted, Kenny, Ted Jr, and Randall

Barbara talks to Steve (left) and Fred (right). That's J.P. in front of me..

Steve & Fred talk to the PGR members

Steve & Fred. Steve's truck had a message on it that said it all. It read: My son is home from Iraq. Thank God!!!

Here is Ted prior to leaving the area. See ya next time around Ted..Ride safe...

Our PGR Road Captains, Mike & Barbara and P.J. their son. They are good people and I am proud to call them my friends.

Tex prior to heading out. I now have Tex's & C.T's email addresses and they are now on the ride notification list. Look for more of them on our future regular & impromptu rides as well as PGR Missions..

Linda fixin' to head out. Russ & Linda and Janice & I left here and went to eat at the Cracker Barrell Restaurant in Wichita Falls. When I stopped at home to get Janice and take my vest off, I took the camera out of my vest pocket and put it on the dresser. I forgot to pick it back up prior to heading out to eat...So no pics at dinner...

On the way back to Wichita Falls, one of the furled flags on Russ's bike started to flap and unfurl. We stopped on FM 369 to fix it..

Here Russ makes the furl tighter and adds in an extra tuck and it's fixed

Russ & Linda as we near my turn-off on Southwest Parkway

The last pic of the post is of Russ & Linda Eastbound on Southwest Parkway about 5 minutes from their home. This will conclude this post. Today's mission was one that we really enjoy doing and we have fun at these. The other Missions we do, by their very nature, are solemn and serious. I would like to take this time to give a well deserved "WELL DONE and WELCOME HOME" to Fred Hughes and we rejoice with his family & friends on his safe return.

Scroll WAY down for more rides, events & posts and don't forget to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of EACH page for more rides and posts. Check out North Texas Bikers (1) at http://www.jjskewlstuff.blogspot.com/ for rides, events & posts from January 08-November 08. Until next post, ya'll be careful out there, ride safe, keep the rubber on the road & pray for our Troops & Rodney................JOHN