By Nathan Prewett
For the Tribune
TRUSSVILLE –Terry Dailey is on a mission to spread love of country among people and he does this through his non-profit organization, Project Patriot Bikes, where he showcases his motorcycles painted with American symbolism and educates the public on national pride.
“We go in an effort to raise the level of patriotism in this country and we do it by addressing the public and showing them the value of the flag, military history and so on,” he said.
A combat veteran of the Vietnam War, Dailey promotes several programs as part of Project Patriot Bikes. One is what he called the Flag Program where he encourages people that see a tattered flag at a business to take a picture of it and send to him.
He sends a letter to the business thanking them for flying it and includes a replacement flag along with instructions on properly disposing the old one.
Another program is his U.S. Flag Educational Presentation where he goes to schools and civic programs to talk about the American Flag. He gives a ten to 15 presentation where he discusses the origins of it, its history and “how it symbols represent our liberties and freedoms.”
Motorcycles is a lifelong passion for Dailey. He spent a large portion of his life racing and winning trophies since the 1970s.
“I’ve been around motorcycles all my life, in one form or another,” he said.
Dailey said that he got the idea for the project when he built a motorcycle painted with patriotic art. When he took it out he would have people stop him to talk. His conversations with strangers would often start with his motorcycle and then turn to their military service or a relative’s service.
“I was always amazed at how something like this here could take a total stranger and have him start sharing stuff with me,” Dailey said. “I was honored and amazed and that’s what gave me the idea of Project Patriot Bikes.”
Not long afterwards he built a second one and began going to events such as the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall and places such as the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo. The project is now a 501 (c) non-profit organization.
Before all of this he served in the Vietnam War in 1968 after joining the Army “straight out of high school” in 1967. He served three years in the Army.
One of his motorcycles is painted with a scene of a military cemetery in which the grave stones bear the names of the locations of campaigns and battles in recent American history. Among those Baghdad, Fallujah where his brother-in-law served and Normandy, Iwo Jima as his father was a World War II veteran.
“It’s something I enjoy doing,” Dailey said. “It’s something that’s very close to me, being a patriotic individual. These bikes have escorted
The art on the motorcycles are designed by Dailey and airbrushed by John Hoover of Hoover Airbrush. He said that a long-term goal of his is to eventually have a motorcycle with a theme of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
“I’ve always been a patriotic individual, coming from fathers and uncles that served in the military,” he said. “Having served in the military myself and seeing where the country is going now I feel like patriotism needs to be brought back to the forefront. I feel like we’re losing a lot of our freedoms and part of it is that there’s not enough emphasis on patriotism.”
To make donations or for more information, visit Project Patriot Bikes’ website at projectpatriotbikes.org.