Funeral Detail - 13 Oct 2006

Published on October 24, 2006 By chiprj In Blogging

I was getting ready for a funeral this morning when I realized that I hadn't yet cut and pasted my last funeral's post from the word document I used to write it.

I volunteered for the Friday funeral at the Tuesday practice. There weren't too many details in the initial print out I got from the NCOIC, but I called the funeral home and found out more. It was just a two man funeral scheduled for Friday afternoon. I got a volunteer from the crew (one with a military license) and found out that he was scheduled to do a two man service on Sunday as well. He worked in the same building as the civilian in charge of the casualty affairs, so I got the NCOIC to check with the civilian and make sure it would be ok for the SPC to pick up the sedan keys on Friday afternoon and keep them through the weekend.

During the Thursday practice, we agreed to meet at the practice spot on Friday at 1430. I was going to drive my own car and he would follow me. That worked out nicely because he was going to need the sedan again and I could just go home from the cemetery.

The cemetery was just down the hill from the base in Monterey so we got there about 1445. We knew that the church service began at 1400 at a nearby church and we had been told by the funeral director that we should expect the cemetery service to start shortly after 1500. The church service ran a bit long, though, and people didn't start to make their way over from the church until after 1530. The cemetery service was in a small building that was made up of glass walls on the front and back of the building and vaults as the side walls.

When the vehicle arrived, I met with the funeral director and I told him that I would carry the folded flag in behind the pall bearers and place it on the casket. He told me that there would be a few more prayers there and that I would present the flag after the priest presented the Crucifix. He also introduced me to the widow, who thanked me for being there.

The small chapel was mostly filled so I had the bugler stand outside the back glass wall. He could still be seen and heard but didn't have to move through the back row of seats to get in and out of position. This did open him up a bit, though, as there was a bagpipes player there who was put a little off that there would be someone else there making music.

When the time for military honors came, the funeral director asked everyone to stand up. My bugler was a little short, so it made it impossible for him to see me at the front of the congregation. He told me later that he just took his best guess as to when I was saluting and then hit the button for play. It worked out well, though. Once Taps was complete, I presented the flag to the widow and moved back out of the chapel.

On the way back to the parking lot, the bugler received a couple compliments about his playing, including one from the bag pipe player, who didn't realize it was a recording. It really does sound real.

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