welcome-home-tony-noble

Mission started out good before we even met Lcpl. Noble.  Rick (Lyon – Texas Coordinator) and I stopped for a cup of coffee to discuss an upcoming mission he was taking.  We were at a local coffee shop around the corner from the staging area when we were approached by three bikers who stopped and asked what the flags were about on our bikes.  We told them who we were and what we do and we gave them our cards.  Since the mission, they have signed up to ride with WWR.  Shortly after that, we headed down to staging where ten bikes were already waiting (at least 45 minutes before KSU).  As we were at staging, we had a surprise visitor – Brigadere General Helix saw us at the stop light and decided to stop by and bless the ride.  After the General left, Major Hudson from 4th Force Recon – Alameda, CA saw us and decided to come and say hello.

escort-with-tony-in-car

The plan was to sneak down to a restaurant that was roughly 3 blocks away, where they were having lunch.  The funny thing is…  myself and three other riders eat at the same restaurant all the time.  So, the phone call came in from Mom saying they were having coffee after their meal, or “the GO sign”.  We rolled down to the restaurant with 25 bikes strong, pulled right in front and side by side, taking up nearly all of the parking lot.  We shut down and I walked inside barking “is there a Marine in this place?”  Tony Noble stood up and with a wide grin said “that’d be me”.  I said “Marine, I’ve got some friends that want to see you”.  I escorted him outside to the parking lot saying, “Tony, meet my friends & friends, meet Tony”.  Then it was on – the mugs & hugs…  He couldn’t stop grinning.

group-shot

Shortly thereafter, we saddled up and staged, putting Tony & his Mom, Loretta directly behind the flag bikes.  We rolled through town with tailgunners in place, straight to their house.  As we came around the corner, people were standing out in the street with US flags and cheering.  A fire truck was in place, Lafayette flag brigade was all set, Pleasanton Military Families had signs posted, along with the local Blue Star Moms.  The WWR Photographer “Snapshot” had her tripod positioned and the camera clicking away.  As we parked, Tony came out of the car and was mobbed.  They brought him up to the Lafayette Flag Brigade large flag, where he received certificates, flags and coins.  His Grandfather was there who is a WWII Veteran of the Italian Army.  When all the presentations were finished, all the official hugs began from the crowd.  Our Blue Star Mom, Debra Burroughs and her two sons were there; one of which just came back from overseas & the other one is in the local R.O.T.C.  We found out that her son didn’t want a Welcome Home so he slipped in without us knowing.  We grabbed him and brought him to our bikes where we reached into the tour pack and coined his ass!  He gave us a big hug and a wide smile, saying “the coin looks really cool”.  Most of the riders started heading out but I stayed for a cup of joe with a couple other riders – Mission Accomplished.  Thanks to the HOG members and PGR riders for coming out to support our mission.

Respectfully Submitted – Fred “Spike” Schau