Last week while I was in the grocery store I got into a conversation with another customer - a total stranger - who saw my vest with the South Carolina Patriot Guard patches on it and asked me what the organization was all about. After I explained it to him he asked me the same question I get asked all the time, one for which I am more than prepared to answer.
He asked me, "Why do you do it?" And this was my answer.
We do it because our veterans deserve it. Most of us are veterans ourselves, with many of us having served for 20 years or more, so we understand the sacrifices that veterans have gone through in order to serve our country
We do it because it's our way of honoring our fallen comrades. Whether we knew the veteran personally or not is totally irrelevant. The fact that he/she was a veteran makes him/her our brother/sister and comrade for the rest of our lives. Veterans share a bond that non-veterans cannot ever understand, a bond that cannot be explained in mere words. It has to be experienced to be both understood and appreciated.
We do it because we know they would do it for us. That's how comrades are.
And we do it simply because it's the right thing to do.
He then told me that he didn't own a motorcycle, and I told him that didn't matter, that anyone could join. I then directed him to the national website and gave him instructions on how to join. I don't know if he did, but I hope so.
Because it's the right thing to do.
