Thank You Patriot Guard Riders.

Yesterday I had the “privilege” of encountering the Phelps Family up close and personal. I was driving past the site of the funeral of 1st Lt Robert Seidel III who was Killed In Action in Iraq on May 18, 2006. Lt. Seidel was buried in the quaint town of Emmitsburg, MD, the home of the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial. The local paper the Frederick News –Post said that hundreds attended the funeral but by my count there were easily 800 - 1000 people there to pay respects to this fallen hero.

Also there was the reprehensible group, the Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps, the main thrust of the passage into law yesterday by President Bush of the law restricting protests at Military Funerals. I wasn’t prepared to see them, on the way up I passed one motorcycle after another with large flags on their backs, and I wondered if they were going to the funeral to pay their respects. As I got closer to Emmitsburg I encountered a half dozen police cars from several agencies prepared to block traffic as the family and 1st LT Seidel arrived. Coming into town I began to see a wonderful sight, the gleam of a thousand pieces of chrome lining South Seton Avenue, and I knew the Patriot Guard Riders were there to shield the family. I didn’t know then that they were there actively shielding the family for the Phelps family had already arrived.

Protected by a half dozen uniformed officers several members stood on the far side of the avenue holding those indecent signs and it sickened me. I honestly felt like stopping right there on the road and confronting them for the frauds they are but I didn’t, instead I honked my horn and saluted them in the manner in which they deserved, a single finger salute. To have stopped would have validated their mission, to draw international attention to themselves and to provoke a fight so that someone else may fund their trips. I will not afford them that honor for they deserve to bankrupt themselves in their misguided mission. To the Patriot Guard Riders I saluted them in the proper manner extending my fingers and touching them to my forehead, and then I waved.

Lt. Seidel was buried with full military honors in the quiet green cemetery under a blazing sun. Leaves and American flags rustled lightly in the breeze as members of the U.S. Army Color Guard fired a salute and folded an American flag, which they presented to the Seidel family, and the Patriot Guard Riders were there.

Thank you for being there to silently honor 1st LT Robert Seidel and to shield the family from the reprehensible acts of a small group of asshats, if there is anything I can do to assist you all, please let me know.