A Call to Action 2…

Dear friends in the Minnesota Patriot Guard,

This weekend we are coming to the sad and serious end of the hardest period we have faced as the Minnesota Patriot Guard.

This weekend (Friday July 31 and Sat Aug 1) we will be attending the visitations and services for CPL Benjamin Kopp and Capt Thomas Gramith here in the metro area. These services will be held at almost identical times in the different parts of the Southeast Metro.

I ask you once again to find it in your heart to stand the flag lines and help us complete our mission to honor the last of the six recent fallen heroes from Minnesota.

To help provide representation at these two missions we ask that the NE and NW Metro sectors focus on attending the mission for Capt Gramith (St Paul) and the SE and SW Metro attend the mission for CPL Kopp (Apple Valley). Anyone can certainly attend any mission they want but in this way we know that we will have a balanced flag line at both. People attending from outside the metro sectors should feel free to choose as they see fit based on travel times.

I am emotionally and physically tired from attending the first four honor missions plus the other missions we have been asked to attend in the last few weeks. That pales in comparison though to the comfort and support we are able to provide to these families in their darkest days.

Once more I ask that you make the choice to help make a difference to these families by attending a mission. Your individual choice may make the difference of a gap in the flag being filled. It might mean that someone else who is as tired as I am can take an extra break and make it to the end of the mission. Please watch the mission calendar at http://www.mnpatriotguard.org/missions/index.asp for details as they get posted.

The pride I have in this organization and state can not be expressed in writing. Each mission, every one of them, has seen a virtual sea of red, white, and blue letting the families know that we care and that we will never forget. The effort of the leadership team sweating the details of every mission has meant that each one was delivered with excellence. The membership coming from all over the state, and Midwest, has been inspiring. I am honored to stand with each and every one of you.

God bless the families of:
SGT C. Wayne Hosford
SPC Carlos Wilcox IV
SPC Daniel Drevnick
SPC James Wertish
CPL Benjamin Kopp
Capt Thomas Gramith