No matter how you feel about the war or what your particular political leanings may be, if you don’t support our troops… YOU SUCK! If you had any question go to http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com and read about some of the men and women who have died serving this beautiful country of ours…ok enough about that.
I had the honor of tagging along with the Sucker Punch Sally’s crew as they headed to 29 Palms Marine Base out in the arid desert of California. The whole idea transpired when Kelly Coe asked Christian Clayton, general manager of Sucker Punch Sally’s, if they would be interested in coming out and meeting some of the troops during a welcome home celebration.
Christian said he could do better than that; he would bring Jeff Cochran, one of the co-founders of SPS, and entire trailer full of bikes and one of their lovely models, Spring.
There are only a few times when a company like SPS can truly show their gratitude for what the men and women in uniform do for them and this was one of those times. The great thing about SPS is that this is not a publicity stunt, SPS has ALWAYS, OPENLY supported the troops in whatever way that they could. They have, since they first started, always said they give military discounts and have continued to do so for any persons serving in the military. Beverly Cochran, Jeff’s wife, was in the Army and is a huge supporter of the troops. She is a huge reason why SPS has been so successful.
After flying into sunny California, we headed to the base and set up on the field in front of where Big and Rich were going to perform. As soon as the bikes rolled out folks surrounded them, asked questions and hung out with us.
It didn’t really hit me where we were until I was talking to a Gunny Sergeant and all the sudden he stopped talking and the whole place got quiet, a Marine on stage started to play taps and every marine in that place stood at attention.
We stood silent in recognition of all those who had given their lives and I watched a little boy pulled on a Marine’s arm as he stood at attention. Their sense of duty and focus was evident if every motion. Their gestures, the deep melodic trance of Taps and the pristine care obvious in every military symbol, weapon and machine on the base drove home the stark reality and immense dedication. In this harried world we don’t stop daily and respect all we have and all our servicemen do to preserve it.
There were several things that really stood out. One was the fact that there were Marines who had traveled from San Diego just to meet the guys from SPS and see the bikes up close and personal. Some of them even heard about it on Bikernet.com. We handed out tons of posters and all of the guys were very respectful to Spring. Once you got them talking; look out. They talked bikes all day long, and since that’s what I like to do, it was a great match. It was terrific to hear young officers tell us that they had served in Iraq, and in between missions they would surf the internet with their troops just as an escape and would invariably wind up on Bikernet and the SPS Web site.
It gave them common ground, away from their duties, to talk, dream and escape their current situation. One infantryman went so far as to say it really helped him and his brothers in the field out. There were several guys who had seen SPS in the magazines and just wanted to talk about the bikes, meet Jeff and sit on a few of the different models. There were also a lot of marines who just liked bikes but had never heard of SPS before and came by to express their gratitude and say how cool the bikes were.
In all we had five hours on the grounds, and there were over 12,000 people waiting for Big and Rich to come on stage. The bikes were loaded up as the sun set in the West, and Marines continued asking for posters and autographs right up until Big and Rich jumped on stage.
The next day we took a ride and somehow ended up at the Marine barber shop. A few of us got haircuts. Hell the boss was buying, and we got to get a tiny glimpse into the lives of some of the men and women who serve our country. It was an honor.
