THE EZELL BIKE: Capturing A Memory, Building A Dream

By Tim Anderson

Every once in a while an event comes into everyone’s life that asks you to drop everything and dedicate yourself to it for a while.

That’s what happened this past winter and spring to Denver members of the Patriot Guard Riders and some airbrush artists at Rat Art in Englewood.

SFC David Ezell, a member of an Army explosive ordinance Disposal unit, was killed in action in April 2008. The Patriot Guard Riders attended SFC Ezell’s funeral, paid their respects and moved on.

Then Kristy Ezell called Patriot Guard State captain Steve DeBoer, and told him she wanted to donate her husband’s motorcycle to them. She didn’t want it, and maybe they could do something with it.

“Kristy called us to thank us for being at the funeral, and said as thanks she wanted to give us Dave’s motorcycle,” DeBoer said. “We said no, but she insisted, and finally we agreed, thinking we’d auction it off and use the proceeds to set up a college fund for her two-year-old son, Tristan.”

When they went to pick up the bike, it was literally pieces in a box. Before he deployed, SGT Ezell tore down his treasured racer, a swift, nimble Kawasaki ZX6 Ninja, with thoughts of rebuilding the bike upon his return.

“It needed a lot of help, DeBoer said. “But we took it, and two of our members rebuilt that bike. We had a little bit of money to work with, and we were determined to do it right and get some money out of the bike for Tristan.”

Gary Watson and Doug Robinette did most of the work, with great support from Rocky Mountain Kawasaki in Longmont.

“When people found out what we were doing, they started offering us more help, and before long we were able to put that bike together in top form,” DeBoer said. “It’s a runner. Dave raced that bike while he was stationed in Germany, and it’s still raceable today. It took a while to get things done, but we finally got to where we were ready to paint the bike.”

That’s when they approach Mel Fox at Rat Art.

“They wanted to paint is a silver pearl with gold trim,” Fox said. “I told them they needed to go with House of Kolor and do it right. Then they asked me to airbrush a tattoo design Dave was going to get inked with on the bike. And that was all this was going to be. Then they showed me the picture of that little boy hugging his father’s head stone. It about killed me. That’s when I decided I was gonna be involved in this and it was gonna be great.”

Then the project took on a life of it’s own.

“I got to thinking,” Fox Explained. “I’ve got seven talented airbrush students who’ve finished all my classes. Together we could do something pretty cool with that bike. So, when they were finished with the silver pearl, I told them what I had in mind.”

What he had in mind was to let the students design a theme and paint the bike. They’d do the work, Fox would supervise and guide a little bit.

“These guys needed to work on a project that had significance to someone other than them, and do a great job,” Fox said. “They’d already graduated, but this was an opportunity to really do something cool.”

“I was hesitant at first DeBoer. “We all were. But I know Mel and his work, and knew he wouldn’t let things go wrong.”

So, Jason Sheffield, Stella Fox, Marshall Redhand, Tiny Salazar, Phil Plunkett, Scott Wunch and Tommy Hunter—they call themselves the Rat Pack—found themselves getting into a project that would affect them all in ways they never imagined.

“This was going to be a tough project,” Fox said. It’s not just a picture hat you look at. This motorcycle was a big part of that man’s life. It was a representation of him. I was wondering, ‘How do you paint a memory? How do you capture a dream and keep it vibrant and alive?’ I was worried for a little while.”

The Rat pack wasn’t though. Once handed the project they went at it, figuring out what would work on the bike, where it would look good, and how to bring it to life.

Hey knew the EOD tattoo design had to be included, an American Flag motif was agreed on, but what else? An eagle was included, as was a portrait of SGT Ezell and Tristan, hand reproduced from a photograph.

“On day we were sitting around looking at the gas tank,” Fox said, “wondering what to do with that, and one of the guys said ‘it kinda looks like the predator from the Predator movie.’ The rest of them agreed and got all excited and started putting it all together.”

“When Mel told me about the Predator on the gas tank, I was having some doubts,” DeBoer said. ”We were going down there anyway, and I figured we’d take a look. We were really surprised. It looks great, and it fits the bike so well. It’s like it was supposed to be there.”

“I had my doubt about the Predator at first, but they convinced me,” Fox said. Plus this was a tribute to a man who was dedicated to the Army. If you think about it, what in this world is a tougher meaner predator than the US Army? I was sold, and they did a great job with it.”

The Rat Pack worked on the paint as a group every Thursday night, plus some individual time, for about three months. DeBoer and other PGR members were usually there with them.

The further they got into the project, the more they were being affected emotionally by what they were doing.

“I could see they were realizing what they were doing and how important it was,” Fox said. “We were all getting attached to this little boy Tristan, the family, and through the motorcycle to the man, SGT Ezell and his dreams.”

There were odd things going on, too. As word got around about the project, people would stop by to see it.

“Some of them I knew, other I didn’t,” Fox said. “And whenever we’d run into a problem or a tough spot, something would happen to solve the problem without us really having to worry about it. It was kinda spooky sometimes.”

DeBoer said the same thing. One night, he said, when the paint was nearly complete, while the bike was being moved in a trailer, a tie-down slipped off and the bike lay against the trailer wall for the rest of the trip.

When we opened up the trailer, and saw the bike leaning against the wall, we thought the worst,” DeBoer said. “ But the only thin that was touching the wall was a side mirror that hadn’t been painted. Nothing else was damaged or even scratched. Explain that.”

“There were quite a few things like that,” Fox said. I think Dave was here watching work on his bike, maybe.”

The generosity that began when the bike was being rebuilt early on, continued throughout. The PGR asked Dan Ballard from Bitchn’ Stitchn’ to help them with the seat, and he agreed.

“Dan was embroidering the EOD logo into the seat,” Fox said. “He came over to see the bike, and decided that just wouldn’t be good enough. The next time we saw Dan, he had a one off, leather seat, with the EOD logo hand tooled into the leather. That’s just how this thing went.

The bike was declared finished on April 30, 2009, after it had been cleared and all the little things finished up. The PGR and the Rat pack had a little party to celebrate completing what had turned into a bigger, better project than any of them had hoped.

“Near the end of the party I was sitting here looking at some photos and paperwork,” Fox said. “And a date caught my eye. April 30, 2008. That was the day SGT Ezell died in Iraq. We finished work on his bike on April 30, 2009. I got a shiver up my spine you wouldn’t believe. None of us knew the date he was killed.

“The next day I called everyone to tell them what I discovered and they were all a little freaked out, but in a good way, Jason was the last one I called to tell about this. Jason is never at a loss or words about anything. When I told him, there was just silence for a long time, then he finally said in a real quiet voice,’ I hope he likes his bike.’”

The bike was unveiled at The Main Gate of Fort Carson on May 21, 2009. Kristy and Tristan Ezell were present, as was SGT Ezell’s unit. The bike will remain titled to the Patriot Guard for 20 years, at which time; Tristan will be able to buy the bike for $1. Until then the bike will tour different events, before it becomes a resident of the new museum being built at Fort Carson. As for the college fund for Tristan, which started the project, without selling the bike, donations have topped $7500, and Steve DeBoer is hopeful it will get to $12,000 before the PGR efforts taper off to focus on the needs of other families of fallen Warriors.