There are no true words to express my most sincere thankfulness for Captain Vito and the team of Riders that came to stand guard over my father-in-law and our family on October 29th, 2018. My father-in-law fought in WWII, suffered frostbite in Belgium and after he healed he was assigned to a Bomber squad. While in the service, his mother passed away and he did not get home to attend her funeral. I did not know (really know one knew) what he suffered through, until 4 years ago when he finally shared with me some of his experiences – and made me promise never to tell his wife! It was at that point that I started doing research and learned of all of the medals he had received. I also learned that his records (along with 16-18 MILLION other Veterans) were destroyed during the fire on July 12th, 1973 in Missouri. As I continued my research to try and get everything correct, it was then that Ed told me “I went down to the VA once to see what they could do for me, they turned me away since they had no record of me and I never went back”. This broke my heart. When I learned of the Patriot Guard Riders and what they did to honor our men and women in the services, I immediately contacted them, thinking that they too would turn him away since the only records we had were all Ed’s original documents. I thought that with all this man did for his country and how he lived his life, damn it, this man deserved some recognition for his service. Well God put me in my place that day. Captain Vito called me back almost immediately after I contacted them and explained what the Patriot Guard Riders do and what they are all about. On October 29, 2018 as we pulled into the cemetary to put Ed in his final resting place with his wife of 71 years, there they were…Guarding Ed and Marge’s crypt. Proudly and respectfully holding their flags. I immediately broke down in tears as finally, Ed was being honored like we all knew that he should. Thank you so much to Captain Vito, his team of riders and the entire Patriot Guard Riders Volunteer group. Your presence on our day of sorrow made all of the difference in the world! I know that Ed was saluting you all from heaven and smiling down on you! God Bless You All!!