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Teddie Jordan
I saw something really inspiring while driving down hwy 59 on Friday, on my way to fish the Coastal Bend on Saturday. Fran and I had heard that morning on the news that it was the weekend for the annual Wounded Warriors fishing trip to Port O'Connor, and it had occurred to me that I might see some of the caravan as I drove down. Six hundred of our wounded veterans had flown into Houston that morning from all over the country for this special hosted fishing trip. They got on buses and were escorted to Port O'Connor where fishermen and guides treated them to a day of fishing on Saturday. While in Texas they were hosted for breakfasts, lunches and dinners and lodging and transportation. All as a small thanks to each for their sacrifices and service to our country.
Around El Campo the traffic stopped one time for about 15 minutes and I figured we must be behind them. I made a stop and then when I got to Edna the highway was shut down again for about 30 minutes where they had apparently been hosted for lunch. I missed seeing the buses which were up ahead but did get to see at least 200-300 of Beau's Patriot Guard Riders on Harleys. And each small town had a turn out of flags, and supporters, and signs, and firetrucks along the highway to salute them. At Louise there was a 2 mile stretch of highway with an American flag every 20 yards. In Edna and Ganado there were Boy Scout troops and entire elementary schools out cheering them on. Many of the people on the sides of the highways had thank you signs and God Bless You signs. A number of houses and businesses along the way had messages of thanks spelled out in white styrofoam cups on their chain link fences fronting the highway. My favorite was "God Bless Our Vets and Al Qaeda Sucks!". Huge American flags were draped over entire cars. It brought more than a few tears to my eyes and put a serious lump in my throat.
It made me proud of our country, but also proud of Texas and it's small towns and people, and reminded me that they, along with our troops are the backbone and fiber of this country.
Coming home Sunday I kept expecting to see them and didn't, but then when I looked over at the Buc'ee's in Wharton and there were about 8 buses and a group of Patriot Guard Riders taking a break. I'm sure that Beaver Applin the owner of Buc'ee's made sure that they were treated to whatever they wanted from the store!
I'll also bet that every one of those heroes went back to their homes around the country and said, "I want to move to Texas".
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