5th Marines Vietnam War Memorial Dedication Ceremony & Reception
This event will be on Memorial Day, Monday the 28th of May. The Patriot Guard has been specifically asked to attend. It will be our Honor to do this for a Memorial Dedication that the Patriot Guard, as well as other organizations, invested so much time and effort to insure that this mission is completed.
The Patriot Guard has helped escort this entire Memorial twice across the United States from Vermont, to Calif. It took two journeys to complete this Monument in its entirety.
Once in 2013 with one truck. The Driver, Henry LaFreinere, was the only one that came out this time along with his soon to be friend, David Lottman aka "Lone Rider" as they were escorted across the US by the Patriot Guard of each state.
The second trip was to bring the rest of the completion of the Monument honoring the 2706 men and women from the 5th Marines and Navy who paid the ultimate price and never came back from Vietnam.
This trip involved 3 trucks so Henrym again leading the charge, came out with both Seth, and William his other team drivers to watch his back.
Henry will be attending with us as well to see the unveiling of the now completed Monument Honoring our Heroes.
We have been asked to be there early to insure that we have a place to park and the Marines will get us to where we need to be.
There will be assigned seating for Goldstar Families, Vietnam Veterans & their families,
ALL Gold Star... Family members (regardless of theater) will be asked to assist with the
unveiling of the Memorial toward the closing of the Ceremony.
A complimentary lunch will be served immediately following the Ceremony in the
Mess Hall, a short walk from the Memorial Garden.
NOTE: This mission posting is to facilitate your voluntary participation in honoring this Marine Battalion. Please see the time table if you would like to participate.
Timeline and staging for Monday, May 28, 2018:
0800 - Stage Carls Jr. 3929 S. El Camino Real, San Clemente, Ca. 92672
0815 - Mission Briefing
0845 - KSU to Cristianitos Gate, Camp Pendleton
(Have ALL ID ready. You will need to show it to get on base - Drivers license, Military ID, Etc.)
0900 - Check in at Gate. From there we will be directed to our parking location
0930 - ETA to parking site. Depending on where we end up we may be bused to location from there.
0945 - 1030 visitation, coffee, Donuts
1045 - Take your seat
1100 - Dedication Ceremonies begins
1230 - End of Dedication Ceremonies
R/C Mike " Joker" Courtright
SoCal PGR - Ride Captain
mokynanapo@sbcglobal.net
714-321-3356
You do not have to be a Veteran or a motorcycle rider to attend this mission. Everyone is welcome. We encourage those who do not ride to attend in your car. If this will be your first mission go to the initial staging area and you will be briefed there by the R/C (Ride Captain). Dress for motorcycle riding or dress casually if you are driving a cage (car). Please feel free to attend any portion of this mission you can. Please ride/drive safely.
