A Patriotic Welcome Home

PALMETTO — A Bradenton Marine got a surprise when he returned home Tuesday — an escort from the Patriot Guard Riders.

The biker group, which often attends funeral services of fallen service members, assembled at a Palmetto gas station to meet on his drive back from Quantico, Va., where he served as part of a Marine helicopter unit that transports the president.

From there, the 12 bikes accompanied Scheiding's caravan — he and his wife, Hilary, in a black Land Rover with a U-Haul trailer, plus mom Kathy O'Connell and aunt Susan Howard in another car — along U.S. 41 South, across the Manatee River and back to his family's 18th Avenue Drive West home.

Scheiding has completed his five years of service in the Marine Corps and is looking forward to getting his college degree and perhaps a career in politics. Read more about him in this week's edition of here on Bradenton Patch.