Yeah, that's right, Friday, the 13th of August
Today's funeral was a two person job. Yet again, the Sailor that's come with me on the last two funerals volunteered to do this one, too. It was at the same cemetery in Seaside where we did that last one. Weather was similar, cold and windy. During the drive over, my bugler said that he hoped Friday the 13th wouldn't bite us in the ass. I responded that it hit the team early this time as earlier this week, another two person team conducted a funeral where the electronic bugle died right in the middle of Taps. These things don't have any kind of low battery indicator, so you never know when your last Taps will be. We plan to adopt a rigid plan of changing the batteries every week to keep this from ever happening again. I've never been an overly superstitious person, but I don't tempt fate.
We arrived early (as is par for the course for me) but apparently this family liked to be even earlier than me. Most everyone was already there, waiting for the carriage. We had been told that we would fold the flag during the ceremony, but when we arrived, we found out the remains were cremated and there would be no place to drape the flag during the ceremony. When one of the cemetery people showed up, they had no solution, other than to prefold the flag. But, they didn't have a flag and weren't sure if the funeral home people would have one, either. So, we hurried back to the car and grabbed our spare flag (we always keep one prefolded in the car just for this type of situation). We quickly touched up the fold job and returned to the grave.
A short time later, the funeral home man showed up. He was the same guy from last week, also, so we talked for a few moments and he identified the next of kin.
When the carriage arrived (it was a van because the hearse was being used for another funeral going on at the same time - manned by another team from our detail), I saluted as it drove by and then followed the funeral home man to the grave site as he carried the container. I helped hold the flag while he placed the urn in it's position, I returned the flag to the table and saluted. I dropped my salute and did an about face - this is where Murphy kicked us in the teeth.
When I got to my position and did another about face, to face the urn, the bugler was just raising the bugle to his lips and Taps started. Completely out of order for the ceremony. I did the only thing I could think of - salute and act as if this was what we planned to do. Taps ended and the minister came forward and started the ceremony. I don't think that anyone outside myself, the bugler (he quickly figured out his mistake), and maybe the funeral home guy and minister even had a clue we'd gone out of turn, but I was still fuming.
The minister spoke for a while and at the end sang a song about the cross. By that time, I'd lost all my anger and frustration for our mistake and was ready to carry on. The minister stepped aside and I approached the urn. I saluted again and made sure the bugler wasn't reaching for the bugle again. I dropped the salute, picked up the flag, and approached the widow. I presented the flag and moved off. The minister concluded the ceremony with a prayer and the funeral home man spoke a little also. When he concluded the ceremony, I marched to the bugler and we started to leave. We were stopped by the son of the deceased. My first thought was of horror - this guy knew we screwed up and was pissed. On the contrary, he shook both our hands and told us he appreciated us being there that day and also appreciated that we chose to serve. I breathed a sigh of relief.
We headed back to the car and left. I gave the bugler a little crap for jumping the gun, but he said he thought the funeral home guy had signaled him. I told him not to worry about it. We recovered and no one was really the wiser for our mistake. We still maintained our military bearing and preserved the dignity of the ceremony. But, I told him he'd probably get to hear about it at the next practice.
Staying flexible and adaptable has been the rule in every funeral I've participated in so far. Today's was no exception. I think that I did the right thing and, as I said, act as if we were doing things on purpose while maintaining the dignity of the ceremony.