James and Donna Gowen, Lonnie Powell, John Palmer, Joe Robbins, Scott and Trisha Miller, Buster Shaffer, and Patriot Guard Members George and Kristin Day, all of Sequoyah County, attended the April 15 funeral of Patrick Lee Shannon at Resurrection Memorial Cemetery in Oklahoma City.
Kristin Day said the motorcycle group met in Sallisaw with other motorcycle riders from Arkansas at 6 a.m. April 15, and 19 bikers rode to Oklahoma City together. Hundreds of bikers with the Patriot Guard were present during the services for Shannon, originally of Cordell.
Born on Feb. 23, 1935, Shannon graduated from high school in Cordell and in 1956 married Amelda M. Zawisza and moved to Owasso. He later joined the U.S. Air Force. While serving in the Vietnam War, the site where he was serving was taken over by enemy forces. He was listed missing in action in early 1968. His remains were recovered from Laos in 2005.
According to the guard's mission statement, the "Patriot Guard Riders is a diverse amalgamation of riders from across the nation," with the mission of having "unwavering respect for those who risk their very lives for America's freedom and security."
The group's main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission they undertake has two basic objectives, including showing sincere respect for fallen heroes, their families, and their communities and shielding the mourning family and friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors, according to the Patriot Guard's Web site.
According to the Web site, the guard started in 2005 with the American Legion Riders chapter 136 from Kansas, who were appalled to hear that the memory of fallen heroes were being tarnished by funeral protests.
When they heard that a funeral of Sgt. John Doles in Chelsea was being protested, they established a mission statement, which included getting the families permission and contacting law enforcement and other motorcycle groups in Oklahoma. They agreed that their ultimate goal was to get veterans and motorcycle organizations involved in every state so that each state could handle the situation internally and not rely on other states to do the job.
Since then the group has attended numerous funeral services across the country.
