{"id":62743,"date":"2015-11-11T11:26:09","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T16:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=62743"},"modified":"2015-11-11T11:26:09","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T16:26:09","slug":"staff-sergeant-jonathan-turners-trip-home-with-pgr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=62743","title":{"rendered":"Staff Sergeant Jonathan Turner’s trip home with PGR"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Turner joined the Marines in 1988 and served until 2014 when he retired. He deployed seven times including both Iraq and Afghanistan. He passed last year from injuries related to his service. His family couldn’t afford to collect his cremated remains from California to their own home in Georgia. Because they didn’t think it was appropriate for the hero to go home in FedEx box, the Patriot Guard Riders coordinated rides to escort the Staff Sergeant home all the way across the country, according to Atlanta’s Fox 5<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The California Patriot Guard Riders contacted all of the state captains from California to Georiga and explained the situation, that it wasn’t proper to ship this war hero home via FedEx,” said Jeff Goodiel of the Georgia Patriot Guard Riders. Within days, a convoy was assembled with each state’s Patriot Guard Riders driving Turner’s cremated remains across their state and then passing those remains off to the next group of riders.<\/p>\n

“It’s heartwarming, to see all these people here,” said Annie Glanton, Turner’s mother, “I know that he was loved by a lot of people.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I know that it all happened back in August, but the story is news to me and I figure that the Patriot Guard Riders deserve recognition for the things they do for veterans that don’t make the news very often. <\/p>\n

A few weekends ago, I said goodbye to my cousin, Scott, who was also a fan of this blog. He never served in the military, but hardly a veterans’ event happened back home that he didn’t attend as a PGR rider for more than a decade. Hundreds of local PGR riders attended his service and their presence was a source of strength to his family.<\/p>\n