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After 70 years, soldier's body returns home

Havre to take part in tribute

UPDATE: The hearse carrying Pfc. Gordon's remains will be in Chinook at about noon today, while the hearse will arrive in Havre at about 3 p.m., en route to Wild Horse,

U.S. Army Pfc. Lawrence Gordon was killed in combat in France on Aug. 13, 1944.

His remains were misidentified as belonging to a German soldier. Only recently did the truth come out.

His remains are now being returned to his hometown of Eastend, Saskatchewan, just north of the U.S. border. They are in a hearse that is traveling from Madison, Wisconsin. Along the way, they will be escorted by members of the Patriotic Guard, a group that honors deceased soldiers at funerals and other ceremonies. They will be driving motorcycles.

The group will take off from a Billings funeral home at 6 a.m. Monday and will travel through Fort Belknap. Harlem and onto Chinook. There the hearse will stop at the Henry Gordon ranch. Henry Gordon is one of Pfc. Gordon's nephews.

Then the procession will go to Havre, where it is expected to arrive about 1 p.m. It will go down Highway 2, over the viaduct and to the Port of Wild Horse, where the Canadian version of the Patriot Guards will take over.

On Tuesday, members of Ride to The Wall, a group of motorcycling-riding veterans who advocate for missing-in-action soldiers will converge on Havre from all parts of the country.

They will stay at the Great Northern Inn overnight, and on Wednesday morning, about 50 will head toward Harlem, then Turner and on to Eastend to take part in Wednesday's services.

Wednesday night, around 6 p.m., Ride to The Wall members will take part in a parade down Highway 2 to 2nd Street to 5th Avenue and to the Duck Inn as a tribute to Pfc. Gordon and to thank Havre for its hospitality.

Read about the long effort to identify Pfc. Gordon's remains and more on the ceremonies in Monday's Havre Daily News.

 

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