Patriot Guard adds 10,000 additional members within weeks of the decision

Add me to the list now. I just joined. Considering how many posts I do for them along with rides we have done with them, it only made sense to join. After all, I adore them and what they do. Why haven't you joined yet?

Patriot Guard Riders expand mission
Group isn’t just antidote to Westboro Baptists anymore
By Philip Grey - The Leaf Chronicle
Posted : Saturday Apr 2, 2011 16:22:46 EDT
Mario Chavez is adamant about a lot of things. One is that he and his fellow members of the Patriot Guard Riders do not want to be forever defined strictly in the context of their opposition to the Westboro Baptists.

However, at the present time, trying to tell the story of one without the other is like trying to talk about World War II without mentioning Germany. A recent film by noted documentary maker Ellen Frick showed why.

Last Monday, Chavez and other PGR members — including Ward 2 Councilwoman Deanna McLaughlin and Deb Saunders of the Fort Campbell Casualty Affairs office — were gathered at the home of Pam Wynn, assistant state captain for the PGR, to screen the documentary, “Patriot Guard Riders.” Though the film was largely centered on the PGR, its motivations, and its appeal to veterans and current military members, the Westboro Baptist group was also an integral part of the story.

After the screening, Frick, along with PGR members and supporters of the group, stayed to talk about the film, but mostly to talk about the PGR. Also present was Kari Upchurch, the wife of Spc. Clinton Robert Upchurch, a 101st Airborne Division soldier killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq in 2006.

Situations like the one Kari Upchurch experienced are one reason that the PGR and the Westboro Baptists are so firmly fixed together in the public mind.

As for Westboro, many PGR members feel that the PGR has won the war, even as Westboro has prevailed time after time in the courts. Following the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Westboro Baptists, the PGR picked up 10,000 additional members within weeks of the decision, according to Annette Robeck, Tennessee PGR state captain.

read more here
Patriot Guard Riders expand mission