For the US Iraq war dead, a final salute

LEMONT, Ill., July 13 (Reuters) They are young riders and old, on the road for a two-wheel salute to America's war dead, with each gathering a tribute they hope will be their last.

From one end of the country to the other, the Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle group have been going to the funerals of the Iraq war dead to honor them and at times put a human shield between soldiers' families and any demonstrators.

Members of a tiny, militant Kansas church have protested at a number of funerals, saying the Iraq war was a divine punishment visited on the United States for tolerating homosexuality.

''I've been on 11 rides since April, too many,'' said John Kopeck, after a funeral recently at St Matthew Cemetery in Lemont, near Chicago.

''The toughest part for most of us is the ride home afterwards.

When you're there, doing it, there's a lot going on, worrying about the family; but on the ride home you're alone, and that's when you think about about the guy or the girl,'' said Kopeck, 54, an unemployed consultant from Wayne, Illinois.

''It's the most dangerous part of these rides because the road gets very blurry,'' he said.

While no protesters showed up at the funeral here, the demonstrators have been common across the Midwest, carrying signs reading ''Thank God for Dead Soldiers'' and ''God Hates Fag Enablers,'' upsetting grieving family members.

Jim Buol, another rider at the same service, said of his first funeral, ''I was choked up from the time I started to the time I left. It gave me a better appreciation of my fellow citizens.'' The Patriot Guard Riders, who number in the thousands nationwide, initially only tried to provide a counterpoint for the protesters, often inserting themselves and a wall of flags to screen off protesters and comforting family members afterward.

Now they try to do more, often acting as an honor guard for the fallen soldier and doing what they can to comfort the families.

''The only prerequisite (for belonging) is respect,'' the group says on its Web site. ''Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family.'' A new federal law restricts protests at national cemeteries and dozens of states have passed or are considering measures designed to distance protests from military services.

REUTERS MQDA RN0956