NWF, AAR Airport Welcome Home

Ride Report for Ride Captain Tim

What a great day to be a Warriors Watch Rider. Grey skies, rain, clouds, fog, sun, nothing could stop the Welcome Home that been scheduled at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. I might as well add that there was no snow, but we did get some of everything else mentioned. Seasoned members, new members, and guest who wanted to register to become WWR members were all over this mission. There were four grand scale surprises this morning involving this mission: 1. Returning Navy Veteran Aaron Knight was greeted by a wave of Red, White, and Blue, all presented by a group of grateful Patriots as he was returning from a recent deployment. 2. WWR was approached by mother of a returning Veteran who had recently left the service to become a contractor for the services. Her son had never received a welcome like the one she was witnessing unfold and ask if we could include her son. WWR calls this “more bang for the buck”, mom pointed out her returning hero and as the applause broke out the surprised Veteran was clearly overwhelmed, as well as his very proud mother. 3. Children of returning Navy Veteran Aaron were present but had not been told by mom that dad was coming home. The children believed that they were getting a training lesson from Warriors Watch Riders on how to welcome home returning veterans. I could go on about how the young daughters lip began to quiver when she realized that the second Veteran that arrived was her daddy, but that would just rip your heart out, so I won’t.  4. One sneaky wife/mother pulled off a family surprise that even surprised her and caused greater emotion than she had anticipated. Great Honor presented by all that that could attend. To summarize: Two Veterans realized that they are appreciated beyond words, One mother gave her son a gift that she had never considered could be so important. Children had Christmas in June. One sneaky wife/mother now knows the respect this community and Warriors Watch Riders are prepared to render when called upon. Honor Well Done. Special thanks to the Military Welcome Center and the Volunteers who man the center for always being so supportive of the Veteran community and the Warriors Watch Riders. Another big thanks goes out to member Kimberly and family for distracting the younger crowd long enough to pull it all together.

18 motorcycles
40 members
07 private autos