For my friends who have not heard this story:  I went to the funeral of an old friend, Sgt. Larry Sykes, in Grenada, Mississippi Thursday.  For those who don't know Larry, he was a retired 26 year military man with two tours in Vietnam, and a devout member of Way of Life Ministries Church.  

  

(Pix 1) Patriot Guard Riders lined up on several sites...this was at the door of the church when the casket would be taken to the grave site.  The Patriot Guard is a group of non-paid volunteers who ride bikes from all over the country to honor vets. They are also prepared, if necessary, to protect military funerals from anti-military and other war protestors, and they look like they could handle the job. The Patriot Guard and the USAF Honor Guard were arranged by another of Larry's friends, Scott 'Bama' Moore of Lexington, KY.

 

 

(2) At the gravesite, USAF Honor Guard escorts Larry's casket while Patriot Guard looks on.

 

 

(3) At gravesite.  Some came a long way. Chunky River Chapter.

 

 

(4) USAF Honor Guard, Columbus, MS, at graveside. Both groups were very impressive.  After the ceremony, I walked over and thanked each and every member of the Patriot Guard and the USAF Honor Guard personally. I cried most of the time.  Taps from the bugle always gets to me.  

 

(5) A little excitement.  No one killed by Grace of God, but we almost made Fox and CNN.  Twenty minutes before services at the church were to start, the Patriot Honor guard members were pouring into the parking lot on their bikes, 15 strong, one by one, and two things happened.  Traffic behind the honor guard came to a stop, and everyone inside went outside to see what all the motorcycle commotion was about (only a few church officials were aware Patriot Guard was coming). So, you've got two things going on:  stopped traffic in front of the church, and you've got a parking lot filling up with people, including mourners, city police funeral escort and Patriot Guardsmen, who are essentially still putting down their kickstands. 

   An 18-wheeler log truck comes over the rise, a little too fast, and suddenly sees the traffic stopped about 50 yards in front of him.  With about a nano second left to make a decision, the driver sees he cannot go straight, cannot take the oncoming lane to the left, so he heads for the right bank, which is the church parking lot full of people.  He hits the ditch, turns the truck over on its side and spills the logs into the church parking lot.

    I was standing outside, at the door of the church, but was not looking directly at the accident until I saw people running out of the corner of my eye.  Parishioners, police, everyone was running....  I saw the truck slide and tilt over into the ditch at a pretty good speed and saw the logs coming out over the parking lot.  Took about 2 minutes for the dust to clear.  This pix shows the Patriot Guard attempting to rescue the driver, who was shaken but not stirred. 

 

 

 

(6)  The blue pickup in the foreground took most of the impact, and in fact saved some lives when it absorbed the bulk of the log's impact.  The pickup was destroyed.   The driver sits on a log and talks to police. My car, the brown Toyota Avalon in the center of the pix, was some 20-25 feet from the spill.  I was among the very fortunate. 

 

(7) Larry's wife, Mrs. Etta Sykes, with the flag presented to her by the

USAF Honor Guard and a grateful nation.

 

 

(8) The church program.  Larry's funeral service was a celebration with singing, poetry, personal goodbyes and praising God. Lord love you, Larry.