Indiana Patriot Guard Riders Senior Ride Captain for Northeast Indiana Russ Bauer, of the Silver Lake area, was one of several members of the group to participate in the Akron 4th of July parade this year. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

SILVER LAKE — The Indiana Patriot Guard Riders still exist because veterans still need support, said Russ Bauer.

“There’s always going to be veterans that need us … whether it’s a funeral, whether it’s mowing a yard,” he said.

Bauer, of the Silver Lake area, co-founded the INPGR in 2006 with four other people. That was following the Patriot Guard Riders in general’s start in 2005 in Mulvane, Kan.

People associated with Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas had started protesting at military funerals related to their belief the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were related to God’s punishment for homosexuality.

In early 2006, Bauer and others had gotten word the church’s protesters were going to be at the funeral of Army Sgt. Rickey E. Jones in Kokomo.

Bauer had been involved with the American Legion Riders, but the organization’s guidelines don’t allow “counter-protesting,” he said. That caused him and others to start the state’s Patriot Guard Riders, not having the counter-protest rule.

“I called … all my motorcycle people, which it was cold, it was nasty … and so we rode to Kokomo and basically surrounded the church down there,” said Bauer, noting there were 150 people who came that first time. “The protesters came, but the police put them about two blocks away, so we never actually even saw them. So that was our first mission, and it just grew from there.”

“Within a year, we decided to incorporate as a 501(c)(3),” he added.

The state branch of the organization now comprises 10 regions, with Bauer heading up the northeast one with the title of senior ride captain. There are approximately 4,000 members in Indiana, with about “40 to 50 core folks” in the northeast, he said.

After 17 years, the group is still focused on honoring military members at funerals, although as Bauer happily put it: “The protesters are long gone, haven’t seen them in years.”

“But we didn’t stop. It’s such a good thing that we do, escorting the fallen,” he said.

The Patriot Guard will show up to funerals if a family member requests they come, said Bauer. Their visits are for both current and former military members who have passed away.

People may make requests via the INPGR’s website, inpatriotguard.org, or reaching out to individual Patriot Guard members.

“We go to the funeral home or church for the visitation and put flags up, and we stake flags around the building and then stand a lot of times for the visitation when people are coming in and out,” said Bauer. “We say we stand guard, but that’s not really what it means. A lot of people take that the wrong way.”

“We just stand and hold flags and then after the service is over if there’s an escort to a cemetery, then quite often we’ll escort to the cemetery and stand with flags for the service, so it’s pretty simple really,” he added.

“In the northeast, we probably do three to four missions a week,” said Bauer. “Statewide, I would probably say 30 missions a month.”

Group members will go wherever in the state they are needed, and sometimes even to help the Patriot Guards in other states.

“Everybody helps everybody to be sure,” said Bauer. “The main thing is the family. That’s the main gist of what we do is for the family of the fallen, whether it’s a (killed in action), an (active duty death) or veteran, we just want to make sure that the family knows they’re not alone.”

Aside from funerals, the Patriot Guard’s support for veterans extends to a variety of other endeavors.

“We have an organization we support called Honor and Remember,” said Bauer. “So we sponsor and help present Honor and Remember flags (for military members who have passed away) and Honor and Sacrifice flags (for first responders who have passed away).”

“We escort (runners in Honor and Remember’s Run for the Fallen) and raise money for them,” he added.

The group also helps with Memorial Day ceremonies and participates in parades to spread awareness.

“We sometimes will set up a booth at a First Friday,” said Bauer. “It’s just more … informational, just letting everybody know who we are and what we do and bring bikes.”

“One of the biggest things we do is send tons of stuff overseas (to military members),” said Bauer. “I sent 62 care packages overseas in March.”

The group hosts drives to collect items and then pays to ship them, with it getting money to do so with the help of its license plate sales through the state. Bauer also said the group sometimes will help veterans or their families financially if needed or just by giving emotional support.

“We’re what we call a 100-percenter,” said Bauer. “None of us takes a penny for anything. No gas. No meals. No hotels. We’re all volunteers. We make that very clear.”

“The Patriot Guard is 100%,” he continued. “Every penny of every dollar that comes in goes towards something related to our cause.”

People are welcome to donate or learn more about the organization by visiting the above website or emailing [email protected].

New members are always welcomed, and may learn how to join via the INPGR’s website. They don’t have to even have motorcycles, said Bauer.

“We don’t care what you ride or if you ride. What your political views are or if you’re a hawk or a dove. It is not a requirement that you be a veteran,” states an INPGR brochure.

Bauer noted the national Patriot Guard dropped Riders from its name due to allowing nonmotorcyclists to participate.

“You don’t have to have a Patriot Guard patch to be a Patriot Guard,” he said. “Just show up at the cemetery and hold a flag, and you’re a Patriot Guard member. We have no dues, no meetings … We have bylaws and rules and so forth, but it’s a volunteer organization, and I would never order anybody to do anything.”

“So people show up I never see again sometimes, but that’s OK because for one day they were a Patriot Guard member,” he said. “It’s kind of loosely organized but yet a really, really tight group … of people and I’m pretty proud of what it has become … to be bigger and better as time goes on.”