Ride Report for Ride Captain Handyman

 

The Welcome Home for Sgt. Dustin Dykstra on 4/7 turned out to be a surprise for not only Sgt. Dykstra, but someone else!

Our hero, a 2001 Pennsbury graduate, joined the Army in 2005. His first deployment was to Korea, followed by Iraq. After a year in Germany, he was deployed to Afghanistan twice, spending the time in between deployments in Germany. The recipient of numerous awards, Sgt. Dykstra will be returning to duty after his brief time at home.

On Sunday morning, 4/7, more than 50 bikes and a number of support vehicles were assembled at Fire House 69, near Philadelphia International in preparation to welcome home Sgt. Dustin Dykstra. We were joined by Dustin’s girlfriend, her parents, his parents and brothers and a number of his friends, who rode in from New Jersey.

Escorted by PHL police, the group descended upon the airport terminal amidst our usual thunder of bikes and horns. After a long delay in processing through US Customs, our hero came into the terminal to be greeted by a cheering crowd with plenty of well-deserved applause. It was apparent that Dustin’s girlfriend had succeeded in surprising her guy, but she was in for a surprise of her own. After a long embrace, Sgt. Dykstra pulled a small box from his pocket, got down “on bended knee” and proposed to Theresa, who wasted no time in accepting, to the roaring applause of all those present.

After being properly mugged ‘n’ hugged by the crowd, the group, escorted by both State and local police, roared North on I-95 to Sgt. Dykstra’s home where he was greeted by additional friends and family. Along the way the group also picked up Levittown #2 Fire Company, whose siren and horn added to the celebration. After once again being mugged ‘n’ hugged, our traditional group photo was taken and the Warriors’ Watch entourage quickly drifted away to leave Dustin and his family and friends to continue the celebration of his return.

Welcome Home, Sgt. Dykstra!! A grateful nation thanks you for your service!