SSM Presentation Ceremony for PFC J. Millican
Yesterday was a solemn day. I had the privilege to ride with the Patriot Guard Riders for the first time. It was a privilege to be able to honor someone who gave their life in the service of their country and to also ride with a great group of people. We met up at 0900 yesterday morning in the parking lot of a well know department store and rolled about 15 miles to a staging area. From their we headed over to the Locust Fork HS football field and lined up along the fence across from the home bleachers. In total there was probably around 60 bikes. The ceremony started around 1100 and we were all lined up with our bikes holding the American flag. There were three guest speakers, two congressmen and a general from Redstone Arsenal. The family said a few words after the presentation of the award and after all was said and done the local Air National Guard performed a fly by to honor PFC Millican.
Now I don’t know much about PFC Millican but I will tell you what I know. He was assigned to the 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment from Fort Richardson Alaska, he was 20 years old, and he made the decision to cover a grenade to shield his comrades. Now there are tons of stories out there concerning what happened that fateful day but this is true, he was a man of courage and character and who served his country with honor. I would have been proud to have served with him and I am sure those in his unit feel the same. If you want to read more article about him head on over to Google and check out some of the articles that are listed there. I also have a few pictures over in the gallery. I wasn’t able to take any pictures of the ceremony itself because I was in it but I hope I took enough. I have also created a new section where I will put other pictures from any PGR missions that I go to from now on.
For those who do not know, SSM = Silver Star Medal
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Thank you,
James
Now a little about me, as of right now I am 36, a father of 2 and I have been happily married now for 16 years (time sure does fly when your having fun). I am in the military and have been for almost 10 years. Before that I did many other jobs like driving a truck, welding in a fabrication shop, doing a little carpenter and concrete work, and working on cars. Heck I still do some of that stuff just not full time. I have been working my hand at this website stuff since December of 06. I love to ride and sometimes that interferes in my web publishing so I hope you forgive me if I miss a few days while away at a rally or something. Well that is all for now, go read some of the stuff on the site.