dvldocjoe
11-11-2009, 04:52
Hi gang,
I got up at four in the morning on Tuesday after having trouble sleeping and left Idyllwild for the ninety mile drive to Glendora at five. I arrived about seven thirty and hooked up with part of the SoCal PGR crew led by Gunny SGT Donor. (He has helped with HNs Noble, Retmier, and Burnett)
Our mission for the day was to provide flag line and honors for ten homeless veterans from Los Angeles who were being taken to Riverside National Cemetary. The first service was done in Glendora and lasted about an hour. We loaded up the ten coaches followed by about twenty bikes and a heavy wrecker from Semper Fi Towing Company. The red truck has an awesome EGA paint job on the cab. The procession had ten to fifteen vehicles with me following last since I had amber lights on the car with a window mounted PGR flag plus I had my medical bags and phone with me.
We nearly had an accident on the highway when someone trying to cut through the procession nearly hit the car in front of mine. The procession made it safely to Riverside with a Huey helicopter flying over once we made it into downtown Riverside. The group had a flag line on each side of the Medal of Honor gathering area and honors were rendered as each veteran was passed through.
The service was given and the honors rendered before the coaches were loaded up to be taken to the internment site. During the service, one of the Honor Guard members got dizzy and almost fell out. I was pulled aside to render assistance to an 81 year old Korean Conflict Veteran who was there as part of the ceremony. He was glad to have my help and I was honored to be able to treat a veteran.
I started treating him and had AMR dispatch on my phone when someone told me of a second patient across the row. I checked her as well and divided the two between the first arriving engine company and the first ambulance. Once the patients had been transfered to the crews, I went to the internment site and helped render honors.
11 / 11/ 09
This morning on Wednesday, I am on my way down the mountain to Hemet to attend a Veteran's Day Service. The significance of this is the fact that Hemet has lost two of our brothers, HN Otto Sare and HN Marc Retmier. I have Marc's gold dog tag as part of my keychain since his was my first PGR mission. Hopefully this morning I will be able to represent the PGR and Corpsman.com again to help remember two of our fallen in their hometown. Jenna is accompanying me since the local paper has requested an article on the ceremony. Hopefully I will be able to post her article once she prints it. I will follow this up with an update on how it went once I return this afternoon. I know our fallen brothers have had their names inscribed on a memorial inside the park grounds and I look forward to the ceremony today.
On Wednesday morning Jenna and I headed down the mountain into Hemet and went to Gibbel Park where the Veteran's Memorial Wall is located. I waited just inside the gated area while she started to talk to some participants to get her interviews. An eighty three year old Marine in dress blues who had been in WW II, Korea, and Vietnam was interviewed to be included in her article.
A gentleman with a corpsman shirt walked in and I asked if he was a former corpsman. He replied that his son had been and this is how I was introduced to the father of HN Otto Sare.
I thanked him for his son's service to our country and explained to him who I was and why I was there. I gave him the information for our site and told him we would be honored to have him join our group. We talked for about five minutes and then while waiting for the ceremony to begin Marc Retmier's uncle came in. I talked to him briefly and thanked him for his nephew's service. I then joined Jenna near the front of the audience when the program started.
Two of the town officials spoke along with a chaplain after colors were presented. An Army captain was the keynote speaker followed by a music presentation from the local high school jazz band.
I have photos of the memorial itself and the section of the wall that includes the names of our fallen brothers. I am honored to be able to represent our group in the ceremony today and hopefully brought the family of one of our fallen brothers to the site as well.
The town of Hemet has chosen to remember our fallen comrades in a special way that has shown the great respect that needs to be given to our veterans for their service.
I got up at four in the morning on Tuesday after having trouble sleeping and left Idyllwild for the ninety mile drive to Glendora at five. I arrived about seven thirty and hooked up with part of the SoCal PGR crew led by Gunny SGT Donor. (He has helped with HNs Noble, Retmier, and Burnett)
Our mission for the day was to provide flag line and honors for ten homeless veterans from Los Angeles who were being taken to Riverside National Cemetary. The first service was done in Glendora and lasted about an hour. We loaded up the ten coaches followed by about twenty bikes and a heavy wrecker from Semper Fi Towing Company. The red truck has an awesome EGA paint job on the cab. The procession had ten to fifteen vehicles with me following last since I had amber lights on the car with a window mounted PGR flag plus I had my medical bags and phone with me.
We nearly had an accident on the highway when someone trying to cut through the procession nearly hit the car in front of mine. The procession made it safely to Riverside with a Huey helicopter flying over once we made it into downtown Riverside. The group had a flag line on each side of the Medal of Honor gathering area and honors were rendered as each veteran was passed through.
The service was given and the honors rendered before the coaches were loaded up to be taken to the internment site. During the service, one of the Honor Guard members got dizzy and almost fell out. I was pulled aside to render assistance to an 81 year old Korean Conflict Veteran who was there as part of the ceremony. He was glad to have my help and I was honored to be able to treat a veteran.
I started treating him and had AMR dispatch on my phone when someone told me of a second patient across the row. I checked her as well and divided the two between the first arriving engine company and the first ambulance. Once the patients had been transfered to the crews, I went to the internment site and helped render honors.
11 / 11/ 09
This morning on Wednesday, I am on my way down the mountain to Hemet to attend a Veteran's Day Service. The significance of this is the fact that Hemet has lost two of our brothers, HN Otto Sare and HN Marc Retmier. I have Marc's gold dog tag as part of my keychain since his was my first PGR mission. Hopefully this morning I will be able to represent the PGR and Corpsman.com again to help remember two of our fallen in their hometown. Jenna is accompanying me since the local paper has requested an article on the ceremony. Hopefully I will be able to post her article once she prints it. I will follow this up with an update on how it went once I return this afternoon. I know our fallen brothers have had their names inscribed on a memorial inside the park grounds and I look forward to the ceremony today.
On Wednesday morning Jenna and I headed down the mountain into Hemet and went to Gibbel Park where the Veteran's Memorial Wall is located. I waited just inside the gated area while she started to talk to some participants to get her interviews. An eighty three year old Marine in dress blues who had been in WW II, Korea, and Vietnam was interviewed to be included in her article.
A gentleman with a corpsman shirt walked in and I asked if he was a former corpsman. He replied that his son had been and this is how I was introduced to the father of HN Otto Sare.
I thanked him for his son's service to our country and explained to him who I was and why I was there. I gave him the information for our site and told him we would be honored to have him join our group. We talked for about five minutes and then while waiting for the ceremony to begin Marc Retmier's uncle came in. I talked to him briefly and thanked him for his nephew's service. I then joined Jenna near the front of the audience when the program started.
Two of the town officials spoke along with a chaplain after colors were presented. An Army captain was the keynote speaker followed by a music presentation from the local high school jazz band.
I have photos of the memorial itself and the section of the wall that includes the names of our fallen brothers. I am honored to be able to represent our group in the ceremony today and hopefully brought the family of one of our fallen brothers to the site as well.
The town of Hemet has chosen to remember our fallen comrades in a special way that has shown the great respect that needs to be given to our veterans for their service.