Letter to the Editor: Thank You Honor Flight Ride Organizers, Participants, Police

Letter to the Editor:

On May 5, DuPage Veteran’s foundation hosted a fundraiser to support our local World War II Veteran’s and Honor Flight Chicago at the DuPage airport. Doug Deetjen, a Lisle resident, businessman and Vietnam Veteran sponsored “Let’s Ride for Honor Flight Chicago” for local motorcyclists with the support of Lee Mattes, owner of Heritage Harley-Davidson in Lisle to honor our Veteran’s and raise funds for such a worthy cause. 

I am honored to have participated in this ride and I want to give my sincere gratitude to all who organized and participated in the event. This was a police escorted ride that left Heritage Harley-Davidson and went thru Lisle, , Wheaton, Winfield and West Chicago. The Police Departments of each provided a police escort that was second to none! They were outstanding! I am an avid motorcyclist and have participated in many police escorted rides and none were as professionally executed as this one. Upon arriving at the airport safely with no incidents and all the motorcycles parked someone said “And that my friends, is how it’s done!” 

All the riders who participated would like to thank the following: 

• Dirk Enger – DuPage County Board Member – District 6 
• Norman A. Sturm, Director - DuPage County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management 
• Sgt. Randy Johnson and participating officers - Lisle Police Department 
• Chief David Dial and participating officers -
• Cmdr. Don Wilson and participating officers – Wheaton Police Department 
• Chief Stacy Reever, Officer Ben Olson and participating officers – Winfield Police Department 
• Cmdr. Steve Laub and participating officers, (Tony and Gus) – West Chicago Police Department 
• Rich Jorgenson – Event Coordinator for DuPage Veteran’s Foundation 
• Doug Deetjen – Let’s Ride for Honor Flight Chicago Coordinator 
• Tom Tillman – Motorcycle Ride Captain 

All the riders are grateful for your assistance and look forward to having an even larger group ride next year to support our World War II Veteran’s and Honor Flight Chicago.

Best Regards, 
Beth Bitner 
Elburn, IL 
Proud Member of Patriot Guard Riders, Warriors Watch Riders and FVHOG