Today I was honored to ride with the Patriot Guard for the following:
"We have been invited by the family to stand for and honor Hospital Corpsman Apprentice Ryley Gallinger-Long, 19. Ryley was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 1, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Ryley was on his first deployment and had been conducting a dismounted patrol when his life was taken."
If you missed the news on this young man, he had been over there for less than a month when his platoon of Marines came under fire. When giving aid to an injured Marine, he was shot in the back and was killed. Regardless of what you might think of the U.S. being over there, this young man GAVE HIS LIFE helping another solder. Many of us here have given a few years of our lives in aid of others - this young man and many others have given ALL of their Life. Enjoy your freedoms these men and women have given their lives for!
There were well over a hundred PGR Riders along with local Law Enforcement, Fire and other groups. It was very humbling escorting this Fallen Navy Corpsman through several communities where the streets were lined with people saluting our flags and giving cheers of support to their fallen son. Quite often it was hard to swallow with a helmet neck strap and a knot in the throat!
Saturday he will be laid to rest at the Willamette National Cemetary. May God be with him and rest his soul.
