The North Texas Patriot Guard Riders have been asked to participate in a ceremony at the Fisher House, located at the Veterans Administration hospital in Dallas.  (If you are unfamiliar with the purpose of Fisher Houses please visit http://www.northtexas.va.gov/fisher_house.asp, or www.fisherhouse.org.)  First, we will be present to witness the donation of private funds to the Dallas Fisher House in the name of Army Lt. Colonel Eric John Kruger, who was Killed in Action by a roadside bomb in Iraq on November 2, 2006.  Lt. Colonel Kruger was from Garland, TX and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, where he was also a member of the Old Guard.

Second we are there to pay our respects and to honor the memory of not only Lt. Colonel Kruger but also Army Sergeant Jeffery Scott Brown.  Sergeant Brown was killed in Iraq on August 10, 2006 in the Anbar Province west of Baghdad.  Sergeant Brown was the Crew Chief aboard a UH-60 air ambulance helicopter.  Sergeant Brown's father is a Vietnam veteran and his brother was a Crew Chief aboard an Apache helicopter.  His widow, Ashley, lives in Carrollton.

Due to these American Patriots and Heroes not being brought to our area at the time of their passing the North Texas Patriot Guard Riders were unable to pay our respects to them and their families in person at that time.  Family members of both men will be present at the ceremony and we will pay our respects in our customary manner of plaques and coins during this mission.