Funeral Detail - 18 Mar 2005

Published on March 29, 2005 By chiprj In Blogging

When we started this rotation, one of the three SSG's volunteered to do all the two-man details if the other two of us were willing to handle all the full honors details. We accepted and it worked well for a bit, but last week, the overall NCOIC assigned me to a two-man detail when he saw we had two on back to back days. Since I did three full honors funerals over the previous two Saturdays, he gave me the detail on Friday and gave the Saturday detail to the SSG that has been working the two-man details.

I called ahead on Wednesday to verify the time of the service and the specific requirements. I was told that the chapel service would take place at the mortuary chapel at 1000 and the graveside services, along with the military honors, were scheduled for 1100. The gentleman from the funeral home asked that we be on site at 1040, just in case they were running early. He also verified that the flag would be prefolded.

On Thursday, I picked one of the Airmen to be the bugler. I told him to be ready to go at 0945. The funeral was in Salinas and I'd never been to this particular cemetery before, so I wanted (as always) to get an early start.

When we met on Friday, the Airman didn't have any gloves. We normally have them keep the white gloves from funeral to funeral, so they can wash them, but he had originally thought he wasn't going to be doing any more funerals before he started class, so he'd turned them in. We normally keep extra gloves in the van, but I didn't have keys to the van that day. The two-man details get the sedan. So, we drove back to my office where I still have a couple extra pairs of gloves from the last time I did this detail last summer. Then we were off.

We found the cemetery with minimal difficulty. Yahoo Driving Directions had a street misnamed, but we were able to look at the map and terrain associate our way past that minor obstacle.

We got to the cemetery at about 1020. We saw two prepared graves, so I had the Airman wait nearby while I went to the office. The gentleman there showed me which grave was the correct one and also called the funeral home. He told me that the service at the chapel was actually scheduled to start at 1100 and they planned to be at the cemetery at 1200. He also told me that that was always the schedule. So, apparently, the info I got on Wednesday wasn't quite right.

I went back to the correct site and we put the bugle case on the spot the bugler would occupy. We then waited.

The flowers arrived at about 1150. I talked to the man that drove the van and he told me the service was over and they would be there shortly. We chatted to pass the time. He told me that he was a veteran of the US Air Force (actually, by the dates he gave, he was in the Army Air Corps at least for part of his service) and that he'd flown 18 combat missions over Germany during WWII.

The family arrived a little later and I was introduced to the funeral director. He, in turn, introduced me to the daughters of the deceased and some grandchildren. I was told that I'd present the flag to the older daughter. One grandson (a man my own age) thanked me for not only being at the service that day, but for serving our country. The funeral director asked me if it was ok for me to carry the flag in. He didn't want it to go on the casket until it was set down for fear of it falling off during transport. I told him that would be ok. When the family was ready, the pall bearers removed the casket from the carriage and I followed them to the grave. Once they set it down, I placed the flag on the head of the casket and saluted. I then moved off to the side.

The minister spoke briefly and read a passage from the Bible. He finished up with a very nice poem I'd never heard before about how death will hold no victory when Jesus returns, which was the main topic of his speech. He then stepped back and gave me a nod.

I moved back to the head of the casket and saluted. The wind had changed directions a number of times during the ceremony and at this point, it was blowing from the crowd towards the bugler, so the song was drowned out a bit. After Taps, I picked up the flag and moved to the daughter. I tried to offset myself a bit between the two daughters (who were seated next to each other) and I looked at both of them while I presented it. I figured that even though one was taking the flag from me, they both should have been included when I presented it. I then moved off to the side and waited for the ceremony to end.

When the ceremony was over, I moved over to the bulger and got the case for the flag. I asked the funeral director if he'd give it to the daughter. I have never liked asking for the flag back to put it in a case immediately after a funeral. So, I try to ask the funeral director to give it to the family for me. We were approached by a number of family and friends at this time and thanked for our service.

Overall, it was a nice change of pace to do a two-man detail again. I haven't done one since last summer. But it did feel odd not having the rifle shots or flag folding during the ceremony. It's strange what you can get used to, I guess.

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