By Terry Hagerty, Staff Writer

Marine Corporal Ryan Teague of Smithville got a nice Christmas surprise Wednesday on his way home to Smithville after serving in Afghanistan.

The van he was riding in pulled into Bastrop’s Covert Chevrolet around dusk to a long line of leather-jacketed men and women standing at attention by their motorcycles.

Each one held an American flag and up above, the larger flag that commands attention over Covert, next to Texas 71, only added to the patriotic scene. The gathered group was composed of members of the Texas Patriot Guard Riders.

Several of the riders wore military unit patches that read, “First Air Cavalry,” “49th Armored Division” and “Pathfinder,” a group of elite warriors who guide paratroopers and helicopters to combat landing zones. There were also several veterans with Combat Infantry Badges, awarded to those who come under fire.

For Teague, who served with a Marine Recon battalion in Helmund Province in southwestern Afghanistan, it was a nice greeting after a long flight home. He had been escorted by the Patriot riders from Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

“It was a big surprise. I really appreciate these guys took time out of their day to do this,” said Teague, a 2009 graduate of Smithville High School.

Veterans and other Patriot riders came up one by one, shook his hand, told them they appreciated his service. Teague offered a few details of his seven months in Afghanistan.

“I (served) by the Helmund River and it was crazy there,” Teague told the veterans.

Nearby stood Teague’s family – Doug and Tammy, his father and mother, sister Hannah and brother Justin and friend Dustin Leiferman.

Several of the greeters were veterans of the Vietnam War and said they were happy to greet Cpl. Teague and tell him of their appreciation of his military service, something they said was not often heard upon their return from that controversial war.

“When I got back from Vietnam nobody patted me on the back or said ‘welcome back to the U.S,’ except my parents, and not the public,” said Richard Williams, a Marine who served in Vietnam from 1968-69 and who is a manager at Covert. “It’s a big thing for these returning military to know they are all heroes.”

Juan Gonzales, a Patriot rider from Pflugerville, seconded those notions of Vietnam-era vets who often did not get the respect they deserved.

“During the Vietnam War, people weren’t here for us and we want to make sure this doesn’t happen to the present generation,” Gonzales said. “If it wasn’t for Corporal Teague and the military, we wouldn’t have the freedoms we have.”

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