Ride Report: Sgt. Chad M. Allen, 23, of Maple Lake, MN - 9, 10 MAR 07
This mission was held over two days. The visitation and memorial service was held on Friday, March 9. The MN PG began staging at 4:15 pm with a briefing at 4:45 pm. The weather was clear and in the low 40’s.
The WI PGR also partnered with us as the interment was a 3 hour drive and we wanted to ensure that the family was greeted with honor and respect.
While going over the usual briefing material there was a letter from Sgt Allen’s MSgt read. It described Sgt Allen’s heroism in his final act of honor. Sgt Allen responded to a call to support some foot soldiers and took the lead even though he had only 40 days left in the sandbox.
We had 46 MN PG and WI PGR members support us that evening. We placed 6 PG members on the highway entrance to the school and it was nice to hear all the horns honk in notice of our flags. We pulled the road greeters as it got dark for safety concern.
CAO Marine SSgt Franklin introduced us to the family at about 7:50 pm to present the plaque. Included in this presentation were the ARC’s as well as the WI RC who was going to greet the family at the interment in Spooner, WI.
The school was kind and provided us with the cafeteria to use for warming and we found the makings of Navy coffee… thanks RedDawg!
One powerful picture for me was two Marines slowly walking to the school entrance using canes. Both had a chest full of medals and ribbons including Purple Hearts. It was a reminder to me why HOTH is important.
We held our flag line until the open mic Memorial service began. At approximately 8:10 pm the Patriot Guard was released.
March 10, 2007 was a cold but sunny start. Weather was in the upper 20’s but the forecast promised the mid 40’s through the day. We had 6 motorcycles attend and the total attendance was 108 MN Patriot Guard members. Standing with us were 6 members of the Marine League. We made arrangements to partner with them for HOTH events in the St Cloud, MN, area.
Members started gathering at 8 am. Attending with us were many local citizens who had heard of us and were very appreciative of our efforts. The casket had been scheduled to arrive at 8:15. The plan changed to the arrival being 8:45 during our planned briefing. An ARC was assigned to watch for the arrival of the hearse and have a group selected to form an honor line for the Marines to walk through.
The standard briefing was held including the reading of the letter from Sgt Allen’s MSgt. It is emotional to watch tears fall from the crowd as the words sunk in.
We followed the same procedure as the night before expect we had 10 people stationed at the road entrance to greet the mourners as they arrived.
It was a very pretty day. Very bright sun… warming temps to the 40’s.. but snow all around us. It was a nice picture to see the 108 flags waving on a day like that.
Because it was a nice day most people did not take any breaks. The community was appreciative of what we were doing and many “Thank You” were mouthed as they entered the building.
We stood most members down as the mass started. The original schedule was a full Catholic Mass and it was expected to run 1 hour and 15 minutes. They priest decided to not offer communion and the mass was shortened to about 45 minutes. Fortunately some members noticed activity in the school hallways and we quickly set up our flags line to surround the hearse and block the TV Cameras.
Again.. the pretty day of flags 2 and 3 deep was overshadowed by the grief the family and friends had. After the honor guard placed the casket in the hearse the family was escorted to the cafeteria for a quick lunch before departing for Spooner, WI, for interment at the Northern WI Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The MN Patriot Guard then went to the Maple Lake VFW for a very fine lunch.
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Gene James – WI PGR RC
Driving home following the interment service for Sgt. Allen, I was reflecting on the events of the afternoon. We had 7 PGR members in attendance. A big thank you, to each of you. Paul, Dan, Doc, Andrew, Stretch and Barb. Although our numbers were small, judging from the large amount of " thank you's", thumbs up, ect., our presence was definitely appreciated by those attending the service.
It was a picture perfect afternoon. Blue sky, sunshine and warm temps. To hear the gun salute echoing across the land, taps being played, and that sound of flags flapping in the breeze always brings a tear to the eye, a lump in the throat and a tug at the heart.
As the service was concluding we observed high above us a lone bald eagle circling and soaring in the breeze.
Thank you Matthew Bergs and Staff at the Northern WI Veterans Memorial Cemetery for your help and hospitality.
A special thank you Mr. and Mrs. Allen for inviting us to stand in honor of your son, a true AMERICAN HERO.
Following is a post entered by a member
Terri and I stopped at Zylstra's on our way home from the Mission for Chad Allan. There was a couple in the store who were in dress clothes. The woman was wearing a Chad Allen button. I asked if they were at the funeral for Chad in Maple Lake. They were and she went on to tell us Chad was her cousin. Terri and I said we were there as a part of the Patriot Guard Riders there to honor Chad. Her husband told us they were amazed to see the number of PGR folks present on Friday night. BUT, when they pulled into the school parking lot on Saturday ,for the funeral, the large PGR presence was overwhelming and brought his wife to tears. They were very appreciative of our (That is all of us) standing for Chad. They also shared, the coach of the now state high school hockey champions, Roseau, is Chad's uncle. He was in attendance at the Funeral.
We all made a incredible difference to the Allen family.
Terri and I are very proud to stand with all of you!
Jerry Teeson
What we do matters to these families and communities. I was reminded by that brief conversation the Jerry had with that couple.
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Lessons learned:
1. We unintentionally blocked some handicapped parking spots. We need to keep our eyes on that.
2. When a full Catholic service is involved, post an ARC to watch if the service takes an unexpected shift and ends early. |