Riders started arriving before the 10:00 staging time.  Soon, in spite of it being a work day, there was a good representation of riders from all over west central Florida.

The riders assembled in the shade of mature trees on the north side of the funeral home.  As there would no ride to the service a brief safety meeting was held.

Because of the shortness of notice for this mission no Law Enforcement escort was available to shepherd the riders to the Burial Service at the
Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida. Therefore, in the interests of safety, no formation ride was planned.  Instead, the Ride Captain asked
for volunteers to ride, independently, to the cemetery.

A flag line was set up after the Briefing in front of the funeral home. Family and friends soon began to arrive.  In spite of the sorrow they were
enduring they stopped to thank all of the riders, one by one, for their presence.
nce all the family and friends were inside the funeral home, and the service had begun, those going to the cemetery gathered for another safety
briefing and they then departed.  Those remaining reset the flag line when the service was concluding.

After the family left the funeral home the brother of Demetrius spoke, from the heart, to those in the line.  He thanked us for standing watch during the service inside.
After Demetrius McKinney’s casket was placed in the hearse the family again walked the flag line to thank the riders.  It started out as handshakes and rapidly evolved to hugs.  They had kind words for each of the riders.  It was hard to determine who was more thankful, the family or the riders, who were honored to have been there.
The riders said their goodbyes to their comrades, knowing all too well that they would meet again, soon. They went their separate ways knowing that they had stood, in honor and respect, for a true Hero and Family man.