Wounded veteran to be honored with escort parade
Emotions will be revved up high for all those participating across southwest Wisconsin and northeast Iowa on Sept. 10. (Photo by Jeff Harper)
Army Cpl. Adam Eilers, of Garnavillo, sustained injuries in a roadside bomb blast in Afghanistan in February 2011. He will be the honoree of the Silly String Ride escort parade on Sept. 10.
Jo Nell Coates, Silly String Ride administrator, is pictured with Adam Eilers during a pre-ride celebration recently.
Jo Nell Coates, founder, will escort local wounded soldier Adam Eilers and other ride participants with great pride. (Photo by Jeff Harper)
By Correne Martin
“Freedom is not free.” That’s why, if there was ever a time to join forces with our fellow Americans in support of those who make sacrifices for our country, Saturday, Sept. 10, would be the day.
A 150-mile escort parade in honor of Adam Eilers, a 29-year-old wounded Army veteran from Garnavillo, will traverse southwest Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. Eilers will ride in a red truck behind 100 to 150 motorcycles and other vehicles, starting in Hazel Green and making stops in Guttenberg, Iowa, Prairie du Chien and Glen Haven before ending up in Hazel Green for a big celebration.
“We would love it if the public would come on out and line the streets with American flags, red, white and blue signs and other gestures of support,” encouraged the ride’s administrator, Jo Nell Coates, who will lead the ride on her motorcycle, donning an American flag.
The Silly String Ride, as it’s called, started in the summer of 2010. A group of motorcycle-riding friends got together, in 2009, to send care packages to a buddy deployed in Iraq. By the next year, they had learned about a New Jersey mom, Marcelle Shriver, who was raising money to send Silly String to her son Todd, an Army combat engineer, for detection of trip wires. Before searching buildings, for example, personnel spray doorways from at least 10 feet away to see if the foam snags on barely-visible wires most often affixed to bombs.
So in 2010, Coates and her friends made the decision to give back, create awareness and honor those who’ve dedicated themselves to fighting for our country. Thus, the first Silly String Ride was held the first Saturday after Labor Day, and, as it has been since, 100 percent of the proceeds were given for the benefit of a local service member. Honored recipients have come from Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.
“It’s such a surreal, patriotic experience. There’s so much love and emotion,” Coates said, encapsulating the spirit of an escort parade.
Sept. 10 will begin with rider registration at Sandy Hook Tavern in Hazel Green between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. There is a $25 fee per person to ride, which includes the cost of breakfast, lunch and a hog roast dinner, music and games at each stop, a 50/50 raffle and, of course, lots of Silly String.
The train of motorcycles will leave Sandy Hook at 11 a.m. sharp and arrive in Guttenberg, around 12:10 p.m., where the Silly String Ride has obtained a city permit to shut down a portion of River Park Drive, in front of the Dam Riverview Sports Bar, for an hour. In Guttenberg, there will be a special surprise ceremony Coates said the public will find immensely endearing.
The ride will leave Guttenberg at 1:30 p.m., pass through McGregor and Marquette around 2 p.m., and head to the Lakeview Marina Bar in Prairie du Chien by about 2:10 p.m. for a luncheon. As the motorcycles and Eilers’ vehicle enter Prairie du Chien, the police department and city fire department will perform a salute, with a fire truck ladder extended, displaying the American Flag. Coates was informed that the local National Guard may be there for a salute also.
After the luncheon, the ride will leave Prairie du Chien around 3 p.m. and follow the pavement to another stop at Andy’s Bar in Glen Haven. Finally, everyone will leave there at 5 p.m. to return to Sandy Hook Tavern by 6 p.m., where a closing ceremony hog roast and music by the Black Water Gin band will wither the night away.
The public is welcome to join in the festivities at each stop and, again, is strongly encouraged to show patriotism by dressing in red, white and blue, waving American flags, holding up signs, etc.
“The [Silly String Ride] is purely an exhilaration of gratitude for all soldiers,” Coates added. “It’s small, local and near and dear to my heart. I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to do in honor of our service men and women.”
Donations toward this fundraiser will also be accepted at any of the stops along the ride or by contacting Coates at (608) 515-8211. For more information, find the Silly String Ride group and event on Facebook.
About Adam
All proceeds will directly benefit Adam Eilers, who lives on a farmette in rural Garnavillo. Coates received his name by word of mouth and said she is in awe of the young man’s strength and good nature.
The Purple Heart recipient was injured in a roadside bomb blast in Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan in February 2011. The IED detonated upon Cpl. Eilers and his fellow soldiers as they were performing morning patrol in a nearby armored truck. He sustained brain injuries, as well as injuries to his liver, colon, spleen, stomach, back and legs. Pfc. Andrew Zimmerman, of Camanche, Iowa, and Spec. Caleb Redell, of Erie, Ill., were also seriously injured in the explosion.
Adam’s mom, Kathy, said her son is “doing pretty good considering what he’s been through.” She said he keeps himself busy on his hobby farm.
“I might be biased, but he’s a very nice guy. He’s hardworking and has very good values,” she described. “We always knew he was gonna be a soldier boy.”
Eilers committed to two tours overseas, the first being a peacekeeping mission to Kosovo in 2006. His second tour started in the fall of 2010. That is the one on which he was injured, in February 2011.
Eilers was sitting in the passenger seat of the armored truck when a bomb went off on his side of the vehicle. His mom said, when Adam’s buddy got to him to dig him out from under the rubble, he found the vehicle’s command center on top of Adam’s chest.
He was critically injured, but survived.
After spending months in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., learning how to walk and talk again, Eilers returned home to Iowa on Thanksgiving Day 2011. Then, his fight to regain everything else he had taken for granted in life really began, of course, with his family by his side.
“He’s put in a lot of hard work,” Kathy said. “His speech is slurry and walking long distances is hard on his back, but he does have a pretty good memory and, considering the circumstances, it’s pretty amazing how far he’s come. You wouldn’t necessarily know he was wounded just by looking at him.”
Kathy added that Adam and the entire family are extremely humbled by this Silly String Ride experience and honor.
“The whole family will be along. I’m sure his dad will ride shotgun in his truck,” Kathy noted. “This is a day for him and he’s ready to be there every step of the way.”
