I was sent the below email from a friend of mine who is a nurse in the United States Army and I thought I would share - I can not say it better myself.

Michael Jackson dies and it’s 24/7 news coverage. 

A real American hero dies and not a mention of it in the news. 

Ed Freeman.

You're a 19-year-old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac helicopters to stop coming in. 

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. 

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter and you look up to see an unarmed Huey, but it doesn't seem real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it. 

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come. 

He's coming anyway. 

And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. 

Then he flies you up and out, through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses.

And he kept coming back, 13 more times, and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out. 

Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died on Wednesday, June 25th, 2009, at the age of 80, in Boise , ID. May God rest his soul. 

Medal of Honor Winner 

Ed Freeman! 

Since the media didn't give him the coverage he deserves, send this to every red-blooded American you know.

THANKS AGAIN, ED, FOR WHAT YOU DID FOR OUR COUNTRY. 

RIP 

The Patriot Guard is an ad hoc group of mostly motorcycle riders that formed to guard the funerals of American service personnel who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.  At noon today they are going to escort a replica of the Vietnam Memorial into Ogden where it will be on display at the 'Gathering of the Guard' at the Weber County Fairgrounds.

Larry "Kooter" Knudson, a member of the Utah Chapter of the Patriot Guard, said all members of the guard, and anyone else who wants to, can meet the truck carrying the wall at the Morgan County Fairgrounds at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Morgan.  The memorial will be on display for the entire four days of the event.

The Gathering of the Guard is a 4-day event that honors the people who go about doing the business of defending our liberties and way of life - service personnel from past and present.  If the weather holds, and it looks like it will, there will probably be close to a thousand motorcycles at the Gathering this year.

Salt Lake City prosecutors filed negligent homicide charges against Angelica Lopez this past week.  On July 28, 2007 Jerry Layne was riding his motorcycle on 700 East when Lopez came through a red light on 800 South crashing into Layne.  Lopez claims that she had taken her vehicle in to have the brakes fixed but the mechanic had to order some parts.  Lopez drove the vehicle anyway apparently knowing that the brakes were in poor working order.  The Salt Lake Tribune reports that at the scene of the crash Lopez claims her brakes did not work.

Negligent homicide is a class A misdemeanor under Utah Code section 76-5-206. Lopez appears to have known that her brakes were not working properly and decided to drive her vehicle regardless.  This is the same principal that applies to persons who drive their vehicles with known medical issues.  If a diabetic does not properly care for himself and lapses into a diabetic coma while driving and kills someone he may be prosecuted for negligent homicide because he negligently cared for his knowing diabetic condition.  On the other side of the coin is a person driving a vehicle has a sudden heart attack while driving and kills someone they will probably not be charged with negligent homicide because they probably did not know they were going to have a heart attack.

The real questions is whether this charge of negligent homicide is enough.  I have written before about a case where a woman painting her nails while driving her car ploughed into the back of a motorcycle rider while at a stop sign killing the motorcycle rider.  For these cases a charge of negligent homicide just does not seem to be enough.  Granted, there was probably no intent to kill by either the nail-painting woman or Ms. Lopez in this case but is it enough just to have no intent.  Let's say you have a pistol, loaded, no safety on and leave it in a playground of children.  One of the children pick up the pistol, pulls the trigger...  Shouldn't the person who placed the pistol in the playground be found guilty of more than negligent homicide? A vehicle with faulty brakes is a dangerous weapon just like the loaded pistol - at least in my opinion!

Sons of Anarchy is a television show on FX that focuses on the life and times of a motorcycle gangnamed SAMCRO (The Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original)as they take on rival gangs in the fictional town of Charming in California.

It is a quirky show is one of the highest rated television shows for men between 18 and 34 years old.  It is fiction, it is raw and often answers the questions I often ask like - 'Why don't they just shoot the guy' or 'I would cut the b***** off of a rapist if I could - why don't they?'  It is probably as close as we can get to the life of a motorcycle gang without being in a motorcycle gang - they are righteous individuals - yes they break the law - but they have morals - something like the stories of the old mafia during the second world war where they helped secure the docks by 'vetting' employees.  Yeah - they broke the law but it was for the good of the country.

I watched this show a little bit last year and will be looking forward to its return on September 8th.

Mark Shurtleff had a motorcycle crash in 2007 and has required a dozen surgeries to repair a shattered and infected leg.  Shurtleff is running for a senate seat in Utah against GOP incumbent Bob Bennett and as a result Shurtleff had to report his financial status.  He makes $153,839 per year as Utah's top law enforcer and lists assets between $366,000 and $815,000.  He is also the beneficiary of one of the most comprehensive health plans offered in Utah - the Utah Public Employees plan.

Jason Powers, Shurtleff's campaign consultant, stated that despite Shurtleff being well-insured and left with a pile of debt that "By no means is socialized health care an option," Powers said.  It is unfathomable to me what Shurtleff is thinking - one of the best medical insurance plans in Utah and he is left with a mountain of debt from an accident.  Imagine how others cope - those without a six-figure income and great health care - ordinary people!

Here is a reprint of a public forum letter that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune - I think it summarizes and states eloquently what a lot of us are thinking:

I was deeply saddened to read about Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's financial troubles as a result of his 2007 motorcycle accident ("A.G. reports sizable debt after surgeries," Tribune , July 10). Turns out his huge medical bills are causing him quite a financial headache, despite having arguably the best health insurance in the state.

Oh, well, with his $153,839-plus annual income, I'm sure he'll find a way to muddle through. For the rest of us, we can rest easy, knowing that Shurtleff hasn't changed his mind about health care, and that we will have no subversive socialized plots in the guise of a single-payer health care program to take away our American freedoms.

The fact that an American citizen making an average salary and facing these types of medical expenses would be crushed and likely left destitute should in no way deter us from our goal to keep the private sector's health care profits as high as possible.

Keep up the fight, Mark, on behalf of us all!

Pablo Tokarz

Salt Lake City

A Nevada man named Joel Mcrae was killed on Saturday afternoon at about 2:30 p.m. on State Road 143 near Brian Head.  Utah Highway Patrol reported that Macrae's 1996 Harley Davidson tipped on a curve and he and the bike slid into the oncoming lane when an east-bound Mitsubushi hit the bike and ran over Macrae.  The crash is under investigation.

I do not know if Mr. Macrae was on his way to Thunder on teh Mountain but it is a possibility.  I also do not know how much Mr. Macrae enjoyed riding his motorcycle but my guess is he loved to ride.  I have rode my bike to Brian Head and the roads and scenery is spectacular.  The Utah Travel Inductry has an excellent article on Thunder on the Mountain and talks about why bikers are bikers.  I read the Utah Travel post just after reading about Mr. Macrae's death.  However, the Utah Travel article was posted before the crash that killed Mr. Macrae but I bet that the article explains why he and all of us bikers are bikers.  My thoughts are with the family and friends of Mr. Macrae.

At this year's Muscular Dystrophy Ride held in Salt Lake City and sponsored by Harley Davidson of Salt Lake City I won a Harley 2009 Dyna Super Glide and my wife took it - but it is OK!  I already own a Harley, a 2006 Dyne Low Rider, a bike I truly love and enjoy so I gave the motorcycle to my wife who will not ride with me.  You see, she is the kind of person who likes to be in control when driving.  She makes for a poor passenger in a car or truck and even a worse passenger on a motorcycle.

When I bought my motorcycle in 2006 I had been riding for about 30 years already but off and on and not for a year or so just before I bought the Dyna.  My wife insisted and I admit I did not put up much of a fight to needing to attend a motorcycle safety riding class.  I enjoyed the class and learned a little but most importantly the class reminded me of how dangerous riding a motorcycle can be.  So... of course I insisted that she go and take a motorcycle class.  My daughter also decided to take the same class with my wife.  My son rides a sports bike and now we are a total motorcycling family.

My wife has to get out a little more on the Super Glide but she is slowly becoming more comfortable.  The safety class gave her the confidence to ride the Super Glide which is a pretty big bike for my 5 foot darling.  My advice?  Take a safety riding class and take it easy until you are comfortable hitting the highway - stay within your zone of comfort and always be prepared for the inattentive driver - and gear up.

Take care and be careful out there!

At the Kimball Art Center there is an exhibit titled "Danny Lyon: Bikeriders" that is open now and runs through July 26.  The exhibit shows the lifestyle of the Chicago Outlaw Motorcycle club in the American Midwest from 1964-1967. The photos depict the fringe culture associated with motorcycle riding in the '60s and, compared to the crowd that showed up on Saturday afternoon on all types of bikes, it seems that culture has changed significantly over the past half century. Lyon's photos portray what Vangeison, and the motorcycle community in general, call "the one percenters" or gang members. [The term was coined to emphasize that 99 percent of motorcycle riders were law abiding citizens and only one percent were outlaws].

The exhibit, at least in part, portrays the motorcycle culture in Utah and how it has changed over the years.  That image of motorcycle riders as low-life criminals who impose violence on society is not the motorcycle community I know.  I have never met a motorcycle rider I did not like - I mean it!  There are all kinds of bikers - from mechanics to lawyers to doctors to salesmen - men and women and entire families.  Getting out on the road and enjoying the unique connection with the outdoors and the camaraderie of your follow bikers is unique and in a single word enjoyable.  There is no pressure to be like anyone else - simply enjoying the ride and the company of like-minded people is enough.  All of the motorcycle riders I know are of two basic types.

One type is the party goer type of rider.  They go to a lot of charity rides with their friends and raise a lot of cash for very necessary groups.  There is often a party at the end of the ride and we all get together and have a good time.  The other group is a non-group - loners if you want to call them that.  You see them riding alone on the highway just enjoying the ride.  But even the loners are in a group of follow riders knowing that they are not alone.  The familiar hang low wave to fellow bikers cements who we are are - simply enjoying the ride on the motorcycle we currently ride or simply enjoying life.

The Utah Highway Patrol reported that Charles Taylor, 56, of West Jordan was killed in a motorcycle crash on I-80 in Parley's Canyon near Jeremy Ranch on July 3, 2009 at about 1:25 p.m..  Mr. Taylor was riding east with a group of motorcycles when he was forced off the freeway by a car that "cut him off."  From reports it looks like the offending car swerved into his lane and slowed and although Mr. Taylor slammed on his brakes he crashed into the back of the car causing him to flip several times.  Cameron Roden, a spokesman for UHP said "The Marquis made a lane change in front of the Harley-Davidson The Harley was in the center lane, - the driver was not able to avoid the collision." The driver of the Mercury, a 65-year-old Minnesota man, might be cited in the crash, Roden said. A medical helicopter was dispatched to the scene and Mr. Taylor was transported to the University of Utah Hospital where he was pronounced dead ten minutes after arrival.

Coincidentally I was also riding home on my motorcycle with my son on his motorcycle from a day trip to Mirror Lake.  We had stopped in Park City for a break and something to drink when I received a call from a friend who knew we were in the area making sure we were not the victims of the crash.  The motorcycle community is a close-knit community and whenever we hear of a motorcycle crash the cell phones light up to see who was involved - making sure it is not someone we know.  We finished our drink and mounted our bikes for the always hairy ride down Parley's.  Maybe it is just the nature of the road and traffic in Parley's but I also think that inpatient drivers dealing with slower-moving trucks that make this road treacherous.

I received another call later that night from another motorcycle friend telling me that Mr. Taylor was a friend of theirs and for the first time remembered meeting the man at a bike rally on our way to Elko a couple of weeks previous.  Mr. Taylor was a seasoned motorcycle rider and knew how to handle a bike.  This very sad crash goes to show that no matter how careful we motorcycle riders are that we must be constantly vigilant in not only how we ride but how other people are driving.  Even the best riders get killed by the momentary indifference or inattentiveness of a driver who does not look where they are going.

I was heading back from Elko Nevada last weekend after attending their Elko Motorcycle Jamboree - a great time by the way and highly recommended.  However, the ride home on I-80 was cold and wet on Saturday.  I had ridden in the rain before and had rode in high wind conditions before but this was new.  The ambient temperature was about 60 degrees, the rain was continuous and the wind constantly gusting and changing direction.  It was a challenge.

To be comfortable in these conditions you need to be prepared.  First of all you have to cover up.  By cover-up I mean a full-face helmet, heavy gloves, heavy jacket, chaps and heavy boots. Thankfully I had all of this with me.  What I did not have with me was good and complete rain gear.  I had covers for my gloves and boots but that was it.

The worst time when riding in the rain is when the rain first starts.  The accumulated lubricants and dirt on the road seem to form a slippery film on the road when it first starts to rain.  This slippery film dissipates as the rain continues but it is most slippery when the rain first starts.

I have tried rain-x and various anti-fog sprays on the inside of my helmet but nothing really seems to work like the back of your hand.

Rain gear that I have (but for whatever reason did not have with me at the time) should be brightly colored and the green yellow of highway workers seems to stand out the best.

While riding carve yourself out a piece of territory so other vehicles passing you and others you pass know where you are headed.  If you are getting tailgated wave them on or slow down so they have to pass.

When lightening starts to rip across the horizon I try to get off under an overpass.  I hear lightening while riding a bike can hurt.