Five years ago on Easter Sunday, Joe and Jan Johnson received news that changed their lives forever. They learned their son, Spc. Justin W. Johnson, had been killed in Iraq.

The loss is still being felt by his mother and father, who did their best to hold back tears during a brief memorial service Saturday afternoon at Myrtle Hill Cemetery, where Justin was brought home and buried after his death in Iraq in April 2004 at the age of 22.

“Every day is still a challenge,” Mrs. Johnson said. “Some days are good, and some days are bad. We’re in a new normal now, in a world without Justin.”

More than 120 Patriot Guard Riders met in Adairsville on Saturday morning, to the astonishment of the Johnsons who pulled up to find the group and took off for the inaugural Spc. Justin W. Johnson Memorial Ride for the Fallen, traveling 75 miles to the cemetery in Rome.

“Its an awesome thing,” Mrs. Johnson said. “It took my breath away when we first pulled up and saw so many riders ready to go.”

She wanted to make it clear the ride wasn’t about just her son’s sacrifice for his country but for all soldiers they still support and try to help.

In fact, both of Justin’s parents agreed their son, an Armuchee High School graduate, would not have known what to make of the memorial ride.

“He would have wondered what all the fuss was about,” Joe Johnson said. “He was fairly patriotic and didn’t really like the limelight.”

His mother added “he’d be embarrassed.”

Before heading off again into the sunset, the Patriot Guard Riders gave the Johnsons an Honor and Remember flag, a framed copy of a letter from Gov. Sonny Perdue in commemoration of the inaugural ride, a specially made fleece blanket and a memory book filled with the good wishes of their friends and family.

The Patriot Guard Riders plan to continue the ride in Justin’s honor in the years to come, and according to rider Mike Blackstock the ride will likely take different routes in the year’s to come.

As much as the ride has a special significance to the Johnsons, it means as much to the Patriot Guard Riders themselves.

“We just want them to know they aren’t going through all this by themselves,” Blackstock said.