Staff Sgt. Jonathan Turner was a true American hero. He volunteered to serve in the United States Marine Corps and did an excellent job while with the organization. He endured seven tours of Iraq and later relocated to California, where he died from a combat-related injury at the young age of just 41-years-old.

Because the Staff Sergeant died thousands of miles from his family, who lived in Georgia, the United States military planned to send his remains in a brown UPS box via ground shipping.
One veterans’ group heard about the military’s plans and decided that Staff Sgt. Turner deserved better than to be shipped across the country in a brown UPS box. They gathered their group of bikers and decided to do something that no one asked them to do but was very much appreciated.
Their network of bikers found a way to carry Turner’s remains from where he died in California to his family’s home in Georgia, so his loved ones could receive the honorable veteran in a way that was becoming of such an American hero.

The Patriot Guard Riders were the group that offered to help. The group invites everyone to join their clan – not just veterans and motorcyclists. However, members of the group have a “deep respect for those who serve our country.”

“We don’t care what you ride or if you ride, what your political views are, or whether you’re a hawk or a dove,” the group wrote on their website.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what your income is; you don’t even have to ride. The only prerequisite is Respect.”