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From the Gazeebo...  

"Let's Go! " - Dwight D. Eisenhower

"A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers. " - President John F. Kennedy, one month before his assassination.

The men (and women) we honor, the men we remember. That is often the topic of discussion among Warriors' Watch Riders, particularly when we are explaining to a bystander what we do, and why we do it.

The Vision of the Warriors' Watch Riders is a vision of a day in the future when all of our people see our warriors for the heroes that they are, a day when "celebrity" becomes a descriptive applied as easily to our troops as to our sports stars and movie stars. That is the day that we wish to usher in, convincing others by our example, and we look toward that day with hopeful anticipation.

The name of our organization, the Warriors' Watch, was chosen very deliberately. We chose to use the word "Warrior" in describing those who we honor because it encompasses ALL American military members and First Responders - Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Reservists, National Guard, First Responders, both active duty and veteran, and even future. Even the placement of the apostrophe in the word warriors' was deliberate, making what we do, watching over them, the possessive of ALL warriors - past, present and future generations and eras of all of those revered men and women who devote part of their lives to the protection of the rest of us. They are the men we honor, they are the men we remember.

We look back into the past eras with pride, honor and reverence for our forefathers who sacrificed so much for us in all wars of all eras. President John Quincy Adams was speaking directly to you and me when he said, “Posterity: you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.” WE, are the "posterity" to whom Adams was speaking, with whom he was pleading to remember the extremely high, bloody cost of freedom, and in remembering, not to squander that freedom, but to protect and preserve it at all costs, even of our very lives.

But I think that we, especially the Warriors' Watch Riders, DO know how much it cost, how dear the price of freedom is. We look back upon the warriors who went before us with honor and gratitude for the freedom we spend today. We look forward to future generations of warriors, and hope that they too will understand what WE have sacrificed in OUR era, so that they may go on. We look to posterity to look kindly upon us, and that which we have given, the price that we paid.

And most of all, we honor those men and women who, having come just after us, continue to pay the price. We honor them, and we work to let the entire world see that we honor them, that they too might begin to think about who and what is important. We "reveal ourselves," as Kennedy put it, as the people that we are by those who we remember and honor.

But looking ahead, how will WE be viewed by those future generations of American Warrior? How will they remember us? Our own fathers are remembered as "The Greatest Generation," for what they suffered for freedom. Will we, the sons and daughters of the Greatest Generation, have earned some degree of honor for that which we have done, or will we be forgotten by posterity, for what we leave undone? God forbid it.

It's getting cold out. Winter is approaching and the days are short, darkness intrudes on our rides. But unless the conditions become dangerous and so long as they remain only uncomfortable, we will suffer that discomfort for the sake of showing the world how we treat troops. We bundle up, we mount up, we go. This whole long essay could have been shortened to those two words - "lets go!" and weather conditions be damned. (Besides, I have a personal philosophy that applies here - the more uncomfortable a ride is, the more fun it is to tell the story of that ride later.)

On the night before D-Day, in England, dangerous storms were battering the windows of the country house where General Eisenhower and the American-British allied High Command Staff had assembled. The weather was endangering the prospects of a successful landing the next morning on the beaches across the churning water of the channel, the shores of Normandy.

One by one, members of Eisenhower's combined British-American military staff briefed him. One spoke of the chances of the rain stopping. Another reported on the dangers of delay. A third talked about the weather's effect on the landing craft.

Eisenhower listened intently. When all of the various experts had finished their presentations, Eisenhower paused and delivered two words:

"LET'S GO!"

Warriors' Watch Riders, we've had our fair share of holidays - it won't kill us to miss one, or just delay one by a few hours. We've had our holidays spent with family around the warm hearth. Our Warriors', many of them, are coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here in SouthEast Pennsylvania, we already have welcome home escorts scheduled for Thanksgiving Day AND Christmas Day. We can spare a few hours in the cold for their sakes - they are coming home from the desert and from a brutal place where their lives were in danger every moment. They need to be shown honor as only we can do it, even on Christmas Day, even in the cold. Warriors' Watch, the weather is bad:

LET'S GO!

- Wayne Lutz

NO CORRECTIONS TO LAST WEEKS' WEEKLY RIDE

Either you've given up on correcting me or I've improved. Or maybe I just got lucky. In any case, I have no corrections to report for last week's special Veterans Day edition of The Ride. Go figure!

NEW ITEMS IN THE WWR STORE

Several new items in the WWR store, and all of them relate to Troop Support, including many new patches and pins and stickers. Coins are back in stock, we have plenty of them now, and also the new Warriors' Watch Windshield Banner. The new Warriors' Watch Ring is our most exciting new edition. It was long in planning and design and it's finally available. But a word of warning - if you want to give a ring as a Christmas gift - ORDER IT SOON. These are made one at a time as they are ordered. Also, be sure you have the right ring size - we cannot take them back for incorrect sizing. There is a sizing chart linked on the store page, but the best bet is to go to a jeweler and have your finger sized to be sure. Go to the "store" by clicking here to check these items out.

Until next time: MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS THIS, STILL THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH, AND ALL OF THOSE WHO DO, HAVE, OR WILL DEFEND HER, AT HOME AND ABROAD.

- Wayne Lutz

*This newsletter is named "The Weekly Ride" or "The Ride", for short, in memory of and to honor Sgt. Jennifer Hartman, U.S. Army. Sgt. Hartman was killed in Iraq by America's enemies. She died in defense of our freedom at the age of 20. This quote from Jennifer was read at her graveside:

"It's not about what happened in the past. It's not about what might happen in the future. It's about the ride, for Christ's sake."

Click here for a Tribute to Sgt. Jennifer Hartman: "The Ride"