Taking his final ride with a motorcycle escort

Mark DeLap
Posted 7/6/21

GUERNSEY – Willis “Bill” Cain passed in 2017 and his remains were interred at the home of his wife, Pam Luoma Cain.

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Taking his final ride with a motorcycle escort

Posted

GUERNSEY – Willis “Bill” Cain passed in 2017 and his remains were interred at the home of his wife, Pam Luoma Cain.

Recently the Cheyenne National Cemetery opened an area for state VFW soldiers and Cain decided to honor her husband and to let him rest with other comrades in arms.

“He’s been sitting on my mantle for two years,” Cain said. “I did a lot of soul searching and talking to family who are a little heartbroken that I made this decision, but they understand why. He is going to be in a place of respect.”

The day began with a luncheon provided by Cain at her home in Fort Laramie and by 11 a.m. bikers began rumbling down her street in the small town of Fort Laramie. After a time of meeting and greeting, the urn was taken, and the procession began west down Highway 26 through the town of Guernsey where Cain is, and her husband was, active in the Guernsey VFW Post 4471.

“This is such an honor,” Cain said. “This is what we do as the Patriot Guard Riders. I joined the PGR because a friend of mine had a son who passed away in Michigan. What we are doing here in the procession is called the “escort” and when we get to the cemetery, we will carry his remains through the flag line and up to the wall. It gives you goose bumps.”

Cain and her husband both served together, he with the helicopter unit and her at home and their theme was “we serve together for a lot of reasons.”

“While he was overseas, I was serving here at home,” Cain said. “He was in Iraq in 04-05 and he was a hot fueler for the Chinooks and actually for all aircraft.”
Cain spent 37 years in the military before he had a stroke and retired out.

“And then cancer got him,” she said. “Two years later. He was planning on going to 60 years old and he made it to 58.”

According to Cain, her love and support come from those who had rallied around to honor the memory of a great man and to be her support through the adversity.

“These people mean the world to me,” she said. “It’s an incredible feeling to see that flag line after a loved one has passed. At the funeral home and at the cemetery. And that’s why I do it, so others can feel what I’ve felt.”