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A Brevard County crash killed a 93-year-old World War II veteran Tuesday when he slammed his motorcycle into the back of a van.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said Gordon Courchene, of Sebastian, was riding a Yamaha motorcycle on Bird Drive in the Barefoot Bay mobile home community at 2:45 p.m. when, "for an unknown reason," he drove into the rear of a parked van.
FHP reports show Courchene was not wearing a helmet and alcohol was not involved in the crash.
A report on FloridaToday.com shows Courchene was one of the first soldiers to land in New Guinea, where Allied forces battled the Japanese until the end of the war in 1945. He told the news agency in 2005 that he had been injured during the war while working on a tower in the South Pacific.
Investigators said Lynn Bedus had parked the van on the side of the road while he waited for a school bus to arrive when Courchene struck the vehicle.
I can't help thinking he was looking at a woman on his left. I can only wish I will still be able to ride a bike when I am 93 (if I am still alive)! Kudos to the guy!
He must have loved riding and therefore, I'm glad such a hero died doing something he loved instead of lying around in some nursing home withering away.
What a way to go out. Doing something you love and from the report no others were hurt. He had the courage to live life his way and not conform to the norm.
GL2
So sad. Just wish he would have had a helmet on. Somehow when we are going slow we think we can't get hurt. We have a guy in our riding group who is 85 who still rides with us. Another one passed away two years ago and he was 85 and had ridden with us just two months before he passed away. Ride while you can and enjoy life to the fullest...
Helmets don't work so well in direct impact crashes. It may or not have saved him, but he might well have lingered on in pain a long time from other injuries, he may have sustained. Some things can be worse than death.
Helmets don't work so well in direct impact crashes. It may or not have saved him, but he might well have lingered on in pain a long time from other injuries, he may have sustained. Some things can be worse than death.
May he ride forever......
I dont know if I would necessarily agree if it involved a young man, but in a 93 year old, you are absolutely right. He is better off without the helmet.
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