Here’s the story behind “The Patriot Express” for PGR’s: Rick Monday Saves Old Glory 1976
This is a very cool story which started with SSG Francisco Vasquez. This is copied in full from the forum. SSG Vasquez is deployed to Iraq currently. Here’s my original posting on the Patriot Express journey.
My name is SSG Francisco Vasquez. I am a flight medic assigned to the 101st Airborne Division. I am working with the 57th Medical Company (Air Ambulance) ?Original DUSTOFF? out of LSA Anaconda, Balad, Iraq. Our mission is to provide medical evacuation from the battlefield to a higher level of care. We are charged with the responsibility for caring for the most important of all our national treasures; the Service Member. It is because of their sacrifice that we are free. A little over a month ago I contacted a warm and caring lady by the name of Barbara Lee Monday. I told her about an idea I had to commemorate an event that happened thirty years ago at Dodger Stadium. That event was, of course, her husband?s historical save of Old Glory from the hand of protestors determined to set her on fire. Luckily, Rick Monday?s determination was greater. I am truly inspired by that story. That happened on April 25, 1976, a few short months before the 200th anniversary of the Birth of Our Nation. On April 25, 2006 I carried a flag aboard our UH-60 MEDEVAC Helicopter, affectionately known to veterans as an Angel of Mercy. The flag traveled with my crew on several missions, including an Urgent DUSTOFF mission, and a trip to Baghdad for the medical evacuation of wounded warriors on their way to Balad. Those patients were eventually boarded onto planes for Germany, then on to their final trip back to their families in the States. The flag stayed with our crew for the entire duty cycle. I then had a special certificate signed by the entire crew to certify its? authenticity. It was signed by: Pilot in Charge: CW3 Steve Williams, Pilot: 1LT Rebecca Joseph, Crew Chief: Jonathon Mc Cully, and myself, Flight Medic: SSG Francisco Vasquez. This was the first leg of a long journey the flag was about to take. I mailed the flag to Mrs. Monday, who told me she had big plans for the flag. She let me know that she would reveal the plan in due time. I did not know that the wheels for that plan were already set in motion. Those wheels belong to the Patriot Guard Riders. The event planned was something that would span from coast to coast. The ride is the Patriot Express, and the now famous flag has traveled many miles and has been passed through so many hands in a courageous ride that will end in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. I am humbled by the kind words and thoughts of encouragement from so many people. It is truly amazing how this has brought so many together. What a great way to celebrate 230 years of freedom. I wish to thank the Patriot Guard Riders and their families who dedicate so much time and energy to ensure that families of Veterans and Service Members NEVER AGAIN have to suffer alone. I have a profound sense of pride to be a part of something so grand; without you, this would not be possible. Thanks to families of Veterans and Service Members for patiently waiting for their loved ones to return back home. You are the true heroes and the backbone of this great nation. Thanks to my beautiful wife Marie, my two boys, Jeremiah and Isaac, and my lovely niece, Elisa. You are my Heroes. Thanks to Daniel ?Onion? Johnson for coordination of the Ride; what a wild ride it?s been. To Brooks and Debbie Armstrong for accepting us into your family, I can?t say how much that means to me. To Mrs. Barbara Lee Monday, a Great American and Patriot: ?BARBARA LEE MONDAY: YOU MADE A GREAT PLAY?. To Rick Monday: Thanks for inspiring a new generation of Patriotism. Your actions are just as heroic today as they were thirty years ago. I sincerely hope I did not leave anyone out. I want to thank each of the Patriot Guard Riders for having guarded the flag with your life. The stories I have heard are incredible, and greater than anything I could have ever imagined.
Very respectfully,
Francisco Vasquez, SSG, U.S. Army
How inspiring is that!
