RIDE REPORT ---HONOR MISSION FOR PFC NORMAN MICHAEL “EHREN” MURBURG III---6/19/08
When I headed for the coffee pot at 0400 this morning I noticed the unmistakable sound of raindrops falling---medium to heavy raindrops---falling quite noisily---right outside the kitchen window---and it was mission day for PFC “Ehren” Murburg---a young, promising soldier who died unexpectedly while undergoing training to become a Green Beret at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
I checked the radar images of the weather channel on TV, then I checked the radar images on the computer---same results---I considered checking some more and then realized there was no need for further investigation---the mission was a “GO” for today---rain or shine.
AND SHINE IT DID
The early morning ride to San Antonio starting at 0600 was very pleasant and dry---only a few wet stretches of highway---no real problems---and what had started out as a bleak weather outlook was now improving with each passing mile. I did not question the good fortune of the improving weather, but instead, pressed on to my destination.
At 0720 I was approaching Saint Anthony of Padua Parrish in San Antonio Florida---this very same Catholic church celebrated their 125th. anniversary only yesterday. Father Henry Riffle met me outside the church and he set the tone for the rest of the day. I can honestly say that I cannot remember a more worthy soldier, a more appreciative family, a more beautiful day, a more picturesque church, a more quaint community, a more polished Honor Guard, a more personable priest, a more helpful and likeable funeral director, a more memorable sight---that of the four flag bikes escorting the hearse as they approached the church, or a better bunch of Patriot Guard Riders to stand a flag line with---I AM HUMBLED AND I THANK YOU ALL.
The escort from San Antonio to FNC in Bushnell was handled expertly by deputies of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office---IT WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE---AND I THANK YOU ALL---for an Honorable---and safe---freeway transit.
My sincere thanks and sincerest condolences to the family of PFC Norman Michael “Ehren” Murburg III for inviting the PGR to attend the services for their HERO---there is no place else that any of us would have wished to be on this day.
Respectfully submitted,
Terry Hanifin
**MISSION COMPLETE**
REST IN PEACE, SIR. |