Terry Houck’s phone rang on Jan. 6 as it has dozens of times over the last five and a half years. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Eric Nettleton, 26, of Wichita had been killed in action in Afghanistan the day before. The Patriot Guard was needed.
Houck got right to work, ticking procedures off his checklist: Perform recon at the church, funeral home, and cemetery. Determine staging areas and procession route. Arrange to transport flags to and from the site.
Nettleton’s funeral was the 87th mission for the Patriot Guard since Houck and his wife, Carol, founded it in July 2005. The group shields the families of fallen heroes—soldiers as well as law enforcement officers and firefighters—from protesters at their funerals.
Carol Houck came up with the idea after reading a news article about demonstrations at soldiers’ funerals by Fred Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka. The stridently anti-gay group claims soldier deaths are God’s punishment for America’s acceptance of homosexuality.
The news shocked Carol Houck. But right away, she knew what they had to do.
Terry “Darkhorse” Houck, a Vietnam veteran, had joined the American Legion Riders motorcycle club the previous year. His chapter, affiliated with American Legion Post 136 in Mulvane, had participated in send-off and welcome-home ceremonies for soldiers, and Carol thought they could do something similar at funerals. “I had this vision of American flags on their motorcycles and everybody standing shoulder to shoulder to form a human shield to block the Phelpses from the view of the families,” she said.
It was a simple idea—so simple that it caught on immediately and spread across the country. The Guard’s escort-and-shield method usually renders the protesters invisible to the family and friends attending the service. A handful of people waving gaudy signs across the street are no match for dozens, sometimes hundreds, of black-leather-clad bikers flying 3 x 5-foot American flags atop 10-foot poles. Patriot Guard riders are virtually silent throughout the mission, standing in quiet respect outside the church. They keep their backs to the demonstrators, and they never, ever engage them.
“It’s pretty profound for all of us who grew up under our parents serving in the military and that’s carried over into our feelings about patriotism and the U.S. flag,” Terry Houck said. “When you’ve been in life and death situations in the military, it makes it very simple to ask that nobody should disgrace a military funeral.”
Every mission is planned with precision, using procedures gleaned from the American Legion Riders and veteran members’ own military service. Terry Houck, who serves as the Patriot Guard state captain, draws on his own Army reconnaissance experience. He and his advance team scout locations for the most strategic places to line up riders and flags, plan traffic flow and parking, and even ensure restroom access. A core group of about 30 men and women help set up each mission and still more serve on crews for staging and road guard on the day of the funeral.
Carol Houck totes up to 350 large flags for the riders to display. At the funeral last fall for army Specialist Tom Moffitt, she still didn’t have enough for all the riders who showed up. A core group of at least 150 rides in almost every mission, Terry Houck said, and there are newcomers every time too. They all share a core belief that service members deserve to be laid to rest with dignity for themselves and peace for their family.
It’s especially important to Vietnam vets like Terry Houck, who will never forget the hostile homecomings for soldiers in that era. “We’re not going to let this country ever get down on our men and women that are serving. We’ve seen what can happen to a country that gets down on the war. By showing our respect and support and patriotism, it’s kept Americanism alive and well.”
Last year, the Kansas Patriot Guard rode in 10 missions—four of which were for police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty. The busiest years were 2005-2007, when they were called out several times a month. It was a tough time on Kansas troops—and on the Patriot Guard.
“It’s hard to do because after awhile all these funerals take a toll on you,” Terry Houck said. “It brings back your time in the war, and you think of your brothers and friends who died in battles you were in. It’s a very profound duty to do, because after awhile it wears you down, and it never ends.”
But as long as the soldiers’ families ask them to be there, the Patriot Guard will ride. Terry Houck sees people in wheelchairs come out to hold a flag, parents who bring their children to pay their respects and all are focused inward on the service for the soldier rather than outward at the tiny group of protestors.
Sgt. Eric Nettleton had been on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan and had also served a tour in Iraq.
He was killed Jan. 5 when his unit was attacked with an improvised explosive device.
Like Terry Houck, Nettleton served in the cavalry. They travel in armored units now instead of on horseback, but still in columns of two. The Patriot Guard does the same.
“It makes a statement to see those columns of motorcycles. You’re riding iron horses and carrying flags. It makes a statement that you’re on a mission to support or protect the community.”
Tags: Patriot Guard, Protection, Soldiers
