Patriotic Bikers Get Involved After Learning Marine's Remains Will Be Sent Home In A Fed Ex Box

Mar 12, 2019 by apost team

USMC Staff Sergeant Jonathan Turner had served his country as a Marine for 17 years. Turner had enlisted in 1998 and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan over seven tours. In 2014, he was retired from military service due to a medical condition resulting from combat-related injuries.

In 2015, Staff Sgt. Turner passed in his California home, and his Marine brothers and sisters made arrangements locally. His mother, however, lived in Georgia and was too elderly to attend.

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The practical solution was to hold services in California, and then, ship the cremated remains to Georgia where additional services could be performed there and the remains would be with the family. Of course, shipping remains via Fed Ex is unceremonious for anyone let alone a vet.

Enter the Patriot Guard Riders whose motto is “Riding with Respect.” The Patriot Guard was established in 2005 and now has thousands of members across all 50 states. The mission of the organization is to protect the families of fallen heroes. Fallen heroes extend beyond the military to first responders, and its Help on the Homefront program provides direct assistance to families.

When the Patriot Guard Riders learned that Staff Sgt. Turner’s ashes would be delivered in this manner, they planned a much more dignified final trip to his mother’s home. This escort began in California and continued all the way across the country until reaching the mother’s home in Georgia.

Turner’s remain traveled through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. No rider completed the entire trip. Instead, each group of Patriot Guard Riders would make it to their border. The remains would then be passed to the next group. A ceremony was performed, and then, traveling recommenced.

Many Patriot Guard Riders are bikers. You don’t need a bike to participate, and the people they help are bikers and non-bikers alike. But perhaps what made this trip particularly special was that Turner was a biker. When he wasn’t protecting our freedoms, he was enjoying the open road. This made the entire journey particularly poignant. Jonathan Turner got to his final resting place doing what he loved and being honored for what he had sacrificed.

This story is an emotional one. It touches everyone who hears it, and it has brought a lot of wonderful attention to the Patriot Guard Riders and all the good that they do. How did it make you feel? Do you have any other Patriot Guard stories? Let us know in the comments and pass this wonderful story on to your friends and loved ones to shine a light on their work.