SARASOTA – Veterans with no next of kin are honored and buried every Wednesday on the Suncoast. Kim McFarlane is a member of the Patriot Guard Riders, one of the groups that’s notified by the Sarasota National Cemetery every time there is a service for those veterans.
“This organization was started in response to the church that was protesting Killed In Action, KIA funerals,” McFarlane says, “The families of those veterans killed in action did not need that distraction or that harassment. And so they took it upon themselves, a private group of individuals, to stand a flag line, a silent flag line, between the protesters and the families.”
“That small beginning grew a nationwide organization. It’s not a military organization. Don’t have to ride a motorcycle. Most Wednesdays we’re here for at least one with no next of kin. They may be homeless. They may have chosen to not be near their family. We don’t know what their story is.”