What about the Wreaths?
A few years ago, one of the National PGR Board Members saw an article about the Worcester Wreath Company. The article described their efforts with the Civil Air Patrol to place wreaths at State Veterans Cemeteries. The Worchesters had been placing wreaths at Arlington National since 1992, but were relying on the CAP for the State Cemeteries. The BoD Member decided it would be a nice project to assist them in their efforts and have PGR help cover the cemeteries the CAP could not cover that year. The Wreath Company did not have an organization in place and could not get the word out across the Nation as the PGR could.
Fast forward to now and the Wreaths have taken on a life of their own. There is now a full non-profit corporation (Wreaths Across America, Inc.), website, mailing lists, location leaders and fund-raising groups. WAA has become a year round fund-raising organization with all the overhead that comes with it. They issue their own press releases, email updates and expand the scope of their mission as they see fit.
We in Maryland find the original intent of PGR support to the Wreaths is no longer valid. They are now more than capable of handling their own company objectives. It is not the mission of the PGR to provide continuous support to outside corporations, as we do that with no other entity. There are many worthy organizations out there that would love to have our support in this way. Many of these actually match our core mission parameters much more closely than WAA.
Maryland PGR RC's will no longer be assigned to support the Wreaths Across America, Inc. We will not be assigning Ride Captains to run any portion of their objectives. The WAA is looking for Location Leaders for cemeteries around the country and people can volunteer on their website. Anyone who does so, is acting as a member of the WAA and not as a Patriot Guard Rider. They will be expected to use WAA resources to plan and execute their objectives, not PGR resources. If they inform us of their plans at the local cemeteries we will be more than happy to list them on our MD website in the 'Other Events' menu.
This non-assignment of RCs includes the annual parade from Maine to Arlington National Cemetery. The WAA does not need the PGR to get the wreaths to Arlington. The Worcester Wreath Company has been doing it since 1992. The Patriot Guard Riders are not the escort arm of Wreaths Across America Company. We are not a "Parade Brigade" as that is not the mission of the Patriot Guard. When we do escorts it is for a fallen hero or returning/deploying troops. Not a truckload of VFW poppies or a truckload of WAA wreaths.
All liability falls to the PGR and RCs on this escort, when in fact it is the WAA organizing it, directing it, deciding the publicity stops and who can ride the escort. The WAA should have their own WAA escort team setup inside themselves instead of using the PGR. They can then recruit anyone they want to ride their escort including people who ride with the PGR, ALR, WWR, etc,. They need to be in the position of responsibility and liability to their escort team. There is no legitimate rationale for the PGR to assume this liability to further the mission of another organization.
We believe the placing of the wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery and other Veteran's Cemeteries around the State honors the service and sacrifices of our Military. While we will not call these 'Official' PGR Missions we do believe they are worthwhile events which the Riders should know about.
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