Goodbye AL

Been trying to figure out what to say about Al. I could always copy his
obituary, but that wasn't Al, at least not the Al I knew.
Al Coburn died July 27th and was buried Aug 15th at the National Cemetery in
Dallas. I arrived late for the funeral (damn job keeps interferring with my
life) and just shook hands and talk briefly with friends and family. The
obituary mentioned his service during WWII and Korea, also that he was 76
years old.
I'll always remember him and the support he gave TMRA II. Al tried to make
every meeting and always had something to say, information to give. When
the info was important, Al would call me to let me know where to be or who
to hassle. He worked hard for TMRAII and got things done when others
couldn't. I joined TMRA II in 1994 and Al was already there working for the
organization. He never asked for much and always tried to give a hand at
every function we had.
Al knew politics and people. He was always there with the contact to try
and get the press involved. It didn't always work, but Al never gave up.
Most of us pick and choice our fights, always waiting to fight the good
fight. But Al never choose which fight to pick, he fought every battle that
came along. Al never believed that it was constitutionally right for the
state to mandate vehicle registration and lost a few cars over it. He would
take them to court on the issue, but the cases were always pending. He was
constantly battling Dart and trying to force them to keep up with the ADA
rules. Don't think Al ever attended a meeting without some update on these
battles.
Al was the type to tell it like it is. I'm sure he had fallen out of favor
with all the political parties. I've had words with Al in the past and they
usually started out with Al saying, "Your doing a great job here, but you've
screwed up", and then he would proceed to tell me how I screwed up.
Sometimes we came out even, but most of the time Al was right.
Al kept quiet about his personal life, I suspected for the last few months
that Al had entered the land of the homeless. I may not be correct about
that, we never talked of such things, and I gave him a lift from here to
there when I saw him. Still I knew Al was recruiting the homeless into our
fight. He would get them to take our flyers to different parts of the city
and have them show up at political events just to have bodies around for a
show of support.
He saw TMRA II / bikers as the last patriots for freedom in this country and
he wanted to help in any way he could. He didn't understand why so many
bikers or veterans were not participating in the prevention of the threats
to our freedoms in the US.
I could write more about him but what's the use, Al's gone now and fight
will have to continue without him. Maybe the best thing you can say about
someone is that they will be remembered.

Goodbye Al, I will miss you.

 

Good memorial Elmer.. I remember the warm welcome Al presented to me the
first time I visited in your Chapter.. His cheerful and warm reception of me
as a total stranger made me feel like part of the group, immediately.. When
we lose the old veterans like him, that have contributed so well and wisely,
we have lost another STAR in our strange little world.. Your feeling for him
are shared by many, I am sure.. He will be missed by even those who never
had the privilege to meet him.. Thanks for sharing with us ..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker