To the Editor:

We are not the Patriot Guard.

The week of July 23, The Enterprise printed in a caption that the Patriot Guard raised $15,000 for the Soldier On Project.  In fact, it was the American Legion Riders from the Helderberg Legion Post 977 that raised that money.  This is not the first time this mistake has been made by The Enterprise and other organizations with regard to the Legion Riders.

The Patriot Guard is an honorable riding club; it does great things such as providing escort for funerals for fallen veterans, and participating in flag lines and ceremonies. To be a member of the Patriot Guard, you just have to sign up online. The Patriot Guard member can be a veteran but it is not a requirement, and there is no requirement to own a motorcycle — anyone who wants to pay tribute to our veterans is welcome to join the Patriot Guard. 

This letter is not trying to diminish the Patriot Guard and its mission.  In fact, I encourage people to join if they are not veterans or do not own a motorcycle and would like to support veterans.  As a veteran myself, I thank them for all they do.

This letter is to point out that we are the Legion Riders and proud of it.  I am one of the 12 charter members — we started the local chapter three years ago under the dream of Rich Perris (Big Bird).   We are now 50 members strong.

To be a Legion Rider, you have to be a member of the American Legion as a veteran, a son of a veteran, or member of the ladies’ auxiliary, and you must own a motorcycle.

Many of you know us because we are part of the community and you see us riding out of town with our flags flying high off of our bikes.  Any time you see us drive out of town in a group, we are on our way to honor a veteran at a ceremony, flag line, funeral, or Honor Flight.

We also represent Veterans and the American Legion at holiday parades; we send care packages to our veterans in Afghanistan annually. We have work parties to do things such as stack wood for a widow of a veteran. We build and repairing homes or garages. We provide lawn care and snow removal for disabled or older veterans who can’t do it themselves.

We also help veterans and families that are low on funds for fuel oil for the winter. We purchase gift cards for food and items such as dog food for the dog of a veteran during rough times.

We could not do this without the support and donations from the community. When people and sponsors donate to the Legion Riders we don’t want to be confused with Patriot Guard.   The Legion Riders work very hard for the local veterans, families, and community.  Thank you for your support.

Dennis Cyr

Knox

American Legion Riders

Editor’s note: We re-published the photo prominently last week, acknowledging the error and using the correct name.