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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,
'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.
He said, 'Please excuse me too;
I wasn't watching for you.'

We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.
While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said,
'While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.'

By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by his bed;
'Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said.
'Are these the flowers you picked for me?'
He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.
I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'

I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.'
He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway.'

I said, 'Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.'

F A M I L Y


Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?
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Friday, August 24, 2007

A Rally-Full Weekend

It’s gonna be a busy weekend.

Cpl. Hensel’s mission and funeral Saturday morning; the state wide ‘Gathering of The Guard’, the 2nd annual; then Sunday is the 3rd annual Support Our Troops Rally in downtown Indianapolis.

The mission is below.

The state rally (on the 25th) - there is gonna be a band, a bonfire, camping, a hog, a fund raising ride and lots of food and fun!!! DC and Officer Baby are making eggs and biscuits with sausage gravy for breakfast. Then we (a lot of us) are heading to Indy for the Support Our Troops Rally.




Should be a great time. As always, if you are in the Indy area and have respect for the families and our soldiers, please join us.
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DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pfc. Shawn D. Hensel, 20, of Logansport, Ind., died Aug. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds during an enemy attack. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.
The circumstances surrounding the death are under investigation.
For more information related to this release, the media may contact the Fort Lewis public affairs office at (253) 967-0152, (253) 967-0148, or after hours at (253) 967-0015 (ask for the public affairs officer on call).


Tomorrow the Indiana Patriot Guard Riders gather in Logansport Indiana to honor the family and remember the sacrifice made by Cpl Shawn D. Hensel. He was promoted posthumously.

It is our honor.

This mission has three parts;
* Part one, yesterday, was an escort detail. Cpl Hensel was flown into Lafayette Regional Airport. I had to work, but it is my understanding that over 50 bikes were present for the escort form Lafayette to Logansport.
* Part two, today, is an honor guard at the church. Some of our members will stand for an hour or two with flags, honoring the family, honoring the man.
* Part three, tomorrow (Saturday), is the funeral. I will be there for this part.

If you will be in or near the Logansport Indiana area Saturday, please join us.

Some of the guys that were there yesterday posted some of their thoughts on the PGR page, I think you should read them.

**********************

I just returned home from the escort for CPL Hensel and all I can say is WOW. We had 59 bikes at the last count, great turn out, thanks to all who came for this escort. I talked with Shawn's father after the escourt and he was amazed with what he saw and wished to thank each and every one of you all for showing up on such a HOT day. I was very impressed with the turn out of citizens along the entire route but most especially with the small town of Delphi. I think everyone in town was on the street as we came through. I nearly couldn't see to drive going through there with all the tears in my eyes. THANK YOU DELPHI and thank all the members of PGR you were great.

I am sooooo proud to be a PGR member,
Terry M.

**********************

What an HONOR to ride for this American HERO in the first stage of this mission. Shawn was taken home with all the dignity, respect and HONOR he so richly deserved.

As Terry said above, it is hard to ride with so many other bikes when your eyes keep running over. The out pour of people in the town of Delphi was outstanding. Makes it real hard to swallow let alone even talk. When we passed that Catholic school and all those little girls were pressed against that fence, some with their little hands over their GREAT BIG HEARTS, it was overwhelming. The bike got washed again. It was an outstanding mission from the start. Being invited by the family inside the hanger to be a part of them in this sad hour was very very humbling. Even Kalitta's pilots were right there showing the respect they always do. I had to go over and tell them so and how much it means to the family and we as PGR's, for them to display the respect they always do. I did thank them for us. I thought the one pilot was going to lose it and if he did, I would have too. Very emotional.

Ray

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Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Public Service Announcement

The Loopy Libertarian at Chromed Curses has a post dedicated to a new site. LL seems to have developed a lot of sites for different charities in the past. And this one is just as important as the others and definitely worthy of promoting here at Indiana PGR.

She has developed a website for a brand new charity called America's Wounded Heroes. Visit their website (still under development) and read about their mission. America's Wounded Heroes donates not only to our military personnel, but also to wounded public safety personnel here at home. Your dedicated public servants like law enforcement, firefighters and EMTs deserve just as much assistance for their duties.

Another site called VA Joe's is soliciting votes for the most worthy charity. The winner gets a $2,000 donation. Can you imagine a new charity winning $2,000 right out of the gate? The competition is stiff though with such noteworthy sites like Adopt A Platoon and Soldier's Angels. Registration is free at VA Joe's and there is an opt-out for emails and the such. And if you're not sure if you'd like to register or not to vote, why not drop some spare change into America's Wounded Heroesdonation jar?

Give America's Wounded Heroes some serious consideration, would you?

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