This past week, i have been occupied mentally emotionally with my loss of Marty Linville, friend and golfing buddy. The day he passed along that bridge, Friday, July 5, we had two visitors in the late afternoon.

Like Marty, they are heroes. Darryl Gunter and Chris Holtzman are heroes, success stories really.

Our two visitors stopped by because Darryl and i go back a long way. Darryl was a third class boiler technician on the USS Yosemite (AD 19) when i became the executive officer and deployed to the Indian Ocean. Darryl was one of the fireroom geniuses that used oversized burner plates for the boilers to get us to Rota as scheduled.

After twelve years, he left the Navy, graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in mechanical engineering, and established Atlanta Boiler and Mechanical, a successful company. He is semi-retired and one of his sons manages the company.

Darryl and i reconnected on the Yosemite’s Facebook group. The reconnection has been good. i have noted earlier Darryl, out of the blue, sent me coasters with the Castle Heights seal, my graduation year, my rank and my name. They occupy a prominent place in our family room, and i use one every evening.

When Darryl told me he was going to be out here and would like to stop by, i was excited. i began to do a bit of research. In addition to starting and making Atlanta Boiler and Mechanical a success, Darryl has done some other things. He is the Atlanta “Chapter Commander” of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association. This is not a motorcycle club. This is an association of veterans who saw combat and enjoy motorcycle riding as a hobby.

The association’s focus is not riding bikes. They “support and protect those who have defended our country and our freedoms,” providing assistance and help to individual veterans, veteran care facilities, other veteran organizations and registered charities.

The stories these two heroes, Darryl and Chris, told of how they saved an old aged disabled vet from having to do a reverse mortgage; how they mowed lawns, repaired homes for other veterans, and others, made me gleam with pride.

These two are also riders for escorting veterans to their final resting places in a motorcycle escort. Darryl is a senior ride captain for the Patriot Guard Riders, who honor their lost fellow veteran.

So these two heroes decided to take a trip. They got on their bikes and took a trip. i keep writing “heroes.” i should explain why:

Darryl was on the USS Sellers (DDG 11) which was one of our ships off of Beirut when our Marines were killed in the bombing. The ship was also in a confrontation with Iran in the Persian Gulf. He has developed spinal stenosis due to a shipboard accident.

Chris was in Iraq. He was the turret gunner in an Army armored vehicle. He received 100 wounds in the conflict and suffers from PTSD.

Heroes.

And they continue being good souls looking after veterans who have had a rough time and need help.

The trip. They took off from Atlanta and in four months, went through 22 states, one Canadian province, covering over 9,200 miles in four months. Their bikes make my Mazda 3 hatchback look small.

As this trip unfolded with my following it from the cloud and when we spent the afternoon with them, it occurred to me that this was the way it should be in our country. These two guys were two of the nicest guys i’ve been with in quite a while. They are patriots but they are loyal to the country and those who served with them. They were courteous, funny, loving life, and living that life to the fullest.

They are good people and folks should not throw them into some preconceived notion about motorcycle riders, veterans, or any other category they might choose to mislabel them.

These two guys are heroes.

Thanks, Darryl and Chris (Chris took this photo)