Navy veteran receives Harley from Hogs for Heroes

Shannon Flynn, of Oconto Falls, decided to enlist in the Navy after his sophomore year in high school. After getting out, he decided to join the reserves, figuring he could serve a couple of weekends a month and earn some extra beer money.

Three months later, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, changed everything for the nation’s military reserves, and he ended up with 20 years of service to his country — including three deployments to combat zones, once in Iraq and twice in Afghanistan.

Before he left on deployment, he sold his beloved motorcycle, “just in case,” explains Kevin Thompson, president of a nonprofit organization called Hogs for Heroes.

“The bike he loved and meant so much to him, he sold it so he could serve his country and take care of his family,” said Thompson. “Like other veterans, he would do it all again … But that hole doesn’t go away, no matter how many friends you have, your wonderful family. He didn’t have that motorcycle in his life.”

During a special gathering at Veterans Memorial Park in Suring on May 8, Thompson’s organization presented Flynn with a 2017 Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited, black with blue striping, that he had picked out after being selected as the latest recipient of a motorcycle from Hogs for Heroes.

“We have a really simple mission: We raise money to buy Harleys for injured Wisconsin veteran riders. We’re talking about men or women who have that passion and that love for riding and in the course of service to our country have been injured, disabled, and now find themselves struggling and unable to have that bike in their life,” said Audra Thompson, Kevin’s wife and vice president of the organization, during the Suring ceremony. “We gift them with a Harley and get them back on the road, and as I look out at this beautiful crowd I know we have a lot of you out here who totally understand the power of wind therapy, and it does make a difference.”

During one of his deployments, Flynn was working convoy security and was taking tire chains off a truck, fell off and landed on his back, with 150 pounds of chain landing on top of him.

“All I remember is my other mechanic looking down at me and saying, ‘Oh, man. That must have hurt,’” Flynn said.

It still does. Kevin Thompson said Flynn gets annual treatments to help him deal with the pain from his back injury.

Flynn had used the G.I. Bill to get certified as a Harley-Davidson mechanic so he could stay close to motorcycles, working for a number of dealerships and even opening his own shop for a time, Thompson said. A friend nominated Flynn for the honor.

“When the Hogs for Heroes advisory board saw that application, we thought this is exactly what we do,” Kevin Thompson said.

To riders the bike is a symbol of freedom, a concept the country struggles with these days, he said.

“It doesn’t mean we all have to agree, but it means we allow each other to live our lives as we choose to. And that can be messy and it’s not easy — it’s not supposed to be, but that’s what makes it all the more precious,” he said. “The real cost of freedom is what men and women are willing to do and sacrifice for that freedom. That cost of freedom falls disproportionately on our men and women in service, and the veterans, and I think that’s part of the struggle now why people can’t grasp that cost of freedom is because so few people pay that price, and they pay it on behalf of all of us.”

Audra Thompson said when she and her husband started Hogs for Heroes in 2016, they thought if they could raise enough to buy one motorcycle a year, they’d be successful. Five years later, Flynn was the recipient at the 17th Hogs for Heroes presentation and the first of six expected to be given during 2021. This was the first time the Madison-based group has come as far north as Suring to present a bike.

“It’s a great organization. I’ve worked with them on some rides, and what they’re doing is just awesome,” Flynn said.

The Thompsons credited a large donation from Operating Engineers Local 139 of Coloma for helping to pay for Flynn’s bike and part of at least one more. The local has supported Hogs for Heroes almost from the beginning, and is hosting a fourth annual poker run June 26, said Terry McGowan, president of the local.

“Last year we raised $30,000, and this year we intend to do a lot more,” McGowan said.

The presentation ended with Kevin Thompson handing the keys to the Harley to the first person who ever received a bike from the organization, who passed it along through more than a half-dozen other recipients and finally to Flynn, who started the motorcycle.

“That’s the sound of freedom right there,” Kevin Thompson said.