Motorcyclist Dies in Crash While Escorting WWII Veteran’s Body

GOVE COUNTY, Kansas (AP) — A motorcyclist who was escorting the body of a World War II veteran died after he lost control of his motorcycle in western Kansas, and a second deadly crash happened minutes later when a car crashed into a firetruck responding to the first crash.

The Kansas Highway Patrol said the motorcycle crash happened on Interstate 70 in Gove County shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday.

The motorcycle driver, who was a member of the Patriot Guard Riders group, lost control and laid the motorcycle down. Then a 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan that was following the motorcycle hit the rider in the passing lane. The motorcyclist was identified as 65-year-old Lennie Riedel of Colby, Kansas.

A few minutes later, a 2011 Honda Accord crashed into the back of a parked firetruck not far from the motorcycle crash. The Honda Accord was driven by 81-year-old Cal Silvrants of Fredericksburg, Virginia, who died at the scene of the crash.

The motorcycle rider who died was part of a group escorting the casket of World War II veteran Donald Stratton from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Red Cloud, Nebraska. Before his death, Stratton was one of three living crew members of the USS Arizona who survived the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. He was 97.