Marseilles memorial leads to one for Arkansas troops

Tag : Motorbike Boot
When Rob Hopper left the Freedom Ride event at Marseilles in 2005,it was with more than a memory -- it was with inspiration.
Today, around noon, Hopper will accept from U.S. Rep. Marion Berry,D-Ark., a flag that has flow over the U.S. Capitol in recognitionof putting that inspiration into action.
In 2005, Hopper, of Wynn, Ark., rode his motorcycle to Marseillesto participate with thousands of other bikers and citizens inhonoring American soldiers who have died in the Middle East. Theygathered at the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial on the northbank of the Illinois River.
When Hopper was called on to read aloud to the crowd names of sometroops killed within the past year, among them was the name of hisson, Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Chase Hopper.
Brian, 21, was aboard a helicopter that crashed in Iraq theprevious January. All 30 servicemen aboard were killed.
Although Rob Hopper originally had doubts about the wall, he was somoved by it and the Freedom Ride program he resolved to beginsomething similar in Arkansas.
Hopper told The Times the resulting Arkansas Fallen Heroes Memorial"was 100 percent inspired by the Marseilles monument."
Actually, there are two memorials. There is a permanent one Hopperis gathering funds to build.
The other is a moving memorial Hopper relocates nearly everyweekend. When set up it is a field of flags and faces.
"We have a 3-by-5-(foot) American flag for each soldier. And infront of that flag we put a post with their picture and a shortstory about them. When you walk through it's more than names on awall. You could look in the eyes of each one of these guys. Youwill remember some of those faces. You learn something about eachone of them. They were real people."
Hopper also hosts an annual Arkansas Fallen Heroes motorcycle ride.
"It's nothing like the Freedom Ride. The very first year was thebest year; we had 297 registered riders.
"I think the problem is that I have it in October and it's the endof the year and everybody's kind of burnt out on bike events."
But other summer events and his own work schedule make October thebest time.
"Plus my son's birthday was in October," Hopper said. "This yearit's going to be more spread out. Last year, we started in onelocation and ended in another, like they do in Illinois. This yearwe're going to start out in five locations and merge them and tryto get more people involved in it."
The response to the moving memorial has been overwhelming.
"I'm having so many requests that I just don't have the time tofill them all," he said. "And I'm having problems the way we do it.We drive half-inch rebar into the ground and then slide these postsand the flags over them. Well, the northwest part of Arkansas isnothing but rock. So you know, I can't drive those stakes in therock. So I just have to tell them 'No, I just can't do it.' "
But visitors find the moving memorial touching, perhaps atChristmas more than any other time.
"During Christmas season the posts were adorned with Christmaswreaths and moved to 10 cities. Christmas Eve we put luminarylights on them with candles burning all night. That was abeautiful, beautiful night.
"Most people go home for Christmas Eve, but just about all night westayed out there with those flags and the pictures and the candlesburning. It was an emotional night, but it was beautiful."
There has been only one negative reaction, Hopper said.
"It was one woman pulled up and asked what this was when we wereputting it up. And I explained to her this is not con or pro war oranything -- this is just to honor and remember fallen heroes fromArkansas. And she said 'Well, that's just not right parading theirfaces around like that.'
"And I told her, I said, 'Well, I just don't want to be rude, butif you don't mind, just put your car in reverse and turn around andwhen you're driving off don't look in your rear view mirror and youwon't have to see it.' "
Last Sunday, the moving memorial was set up on the banks of WhiteRiver at Riverside Park in Batesville so it would be on display forthe town's Fourth of July celebration. It is there the congressmanwill visit.
"I'm really excited about that," Hopper said.
Over the years, the number of heroes has grown.
"In 2005 it was 48. But just since the ride last October I've hadto add 15 more. About 90 percent of them are National Guard. I'vespent a lot of time researching those who died and I don't leaveanybody out. If they were active military and they had ties toArkansas, they're included."
Among the 83 now represented is a female army captain who wasserving as a nurse in Baghdad when she had a heart attack.
"I've got another young man killed in boot camp, and there was aman that had done four tours in Afghanistan and two in Iraq thatwas killed in a helicopter training incident in Georgia. I thinkthey all need to be remembered."
They also will be remembered at the permanent memorial, Hoppersaid.
"We're waiting until we get the funds. We're going to buy a bronzeplaque for each one. It's going to have their name, the unit theywere with -- their dates of course -- their two most outstandingmedals and their photo.
"There's three or four different places that's wanting us to put itthere. But I'm trying to find a place that's not city or county orstate or federally owned. I don't want a place where if theydecided they didn't want it they could dispose of it.
"I'm looking at a military museum that's privately owned in thecentral part of the state. It's a military town; there's an airbase there. And that's probably where we will wind up getting theproperty once we get it all made, paid for and said and done."
In the meantime, Hopper is busy with the moving memorial -- exceptfor the weekend he takes off each year to attend the Freedom Rideevent in Marseilles.
"I haven't missed a year. There's just fantastic people up thereand I like it. I like their attitude and I like what they're doingit for."
When Hopper was present with his family last month in Marseilles,Tony Cutrano, a co-founder of the Marseilles wall memorial, spottedHopper's Arkansas Fallen Heroes T-shirt and they talked.
"Tony said to me, 'Man, I just wish we all could get under the sameroof, and everybody around the nation do this together, you know?'"
"Maybe some day."
Rob Hopper can be e-mailed at arkansasfallenheromemorial@yahoo.com.