Military funerals

KBP I know what your are saying.I've only seen two in my lifetime.The best one was for my Grandpa,and there was six who took part in it.The six folded the flag and three shot 7 times for the 21 total shots.They even had a real bugler.BUT here at home in our towm ( I guess Local VFW or ML ) has only TWO men who do it all,and all they do is fold the flag and play a CD.For me that just sucks.

I would have hoped or thought with or town having a National Gaurd unit,that it would do the service or have a group to offer to do it.I guess not,or maybe I need to look into to it.

Again as said many times,its the lack of honor in our men and women,along with the lack of honor from our Government.It just pains me to know this,that our Government will not set aside the means to honor our Vets no more than they do.Ounce they have you they have you,but after that they think no more of ya.

As it seems I have High jacked your post,and I truly am sorry for this.But I praise you for what you are willing to do for the Vets in your area.If I can help in any way please feel free to ask.
 
Military Funerals

Thanks for your kind words 5R milspec! What we do for the Veterans is simply the right thing to do! I consider it a great honor to be a certified provider of a Military Funeral by the DOD and able to give the last measure of respect and honor to our Veterans. We, as a country will be forgotten and lost if we forget to honor the sacrifice our veterans made for us. Hopefully, we will not lose the freedoms and rights our veterans fought for against our enemies to an eliteist, restrictive and anti-2nd ammendment government!
 
There was a saluting party at my father's funeral several years ago. I don't know who made the arrangements but I imagine it was the funeral director. The federal government does not do local funeral arrangements. They will supply a bronze foot marker, however. There were a lot of them in the cemetary where my father is buried, including one for my next door neighbor's daughter. There was also a live bugler. In addition to taps, I requested the bugler play reveille, too, because of the promise of the resurrection.

They did use M1 rifles, by the way, and we got the empty cases. I hadn't known they did that.

My wife's father was also a WWII veteran of the Army Air Corps and passed away about three years ago. The family apparently did not request an honor guard but he was a Mason, so the Masons had a special part of the funeral. I also attended the funeral, such as it was, of someone who was a member of the Washington family of Mount Vernon, as is my wife. His ashes were spread on one of the gardens at Mt. Vernon. That was different. It was very private but he had not been a service member, though the priest, my wife's uncle, served as an engineer officer in the army in the late 1940s.
 
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KBP if it counts in any way I had a( brain fart ).As soon as I logged off it came to me,what if KBP and his group came and did the service.Well I know to how far away we both live from one another,so I think I already know the answer to a ( brain fart thought ) I will add that if I talk a little more to my mom she might be on the same page as I.So I ask for giggles what do you think it would cost to come my way for two days? I guess add up the drive and food for all who will be coming and any other cost you think of.If I am not asking to much for a ( giggle :D )

Just to keep my address out of this for now lets say I live in Rockingham NC,for I only live 20 minutes away from their.

Yes,each and every man or woman who serves = in my mind should get the best when their time comes from use. If I had served and was out I would do the part,but feel that since I did not serve I shouldn't.I feel as if I am a wemp and not good enough for the part,they have done one of the hardest things one can be asked to,by putting their lives on the line for us.
 
We just buried my grandfather yesterday. He was buried with military honors.

It was quite moving. 4 guns fired 3 rounds each, live taps, flag folding, empty boots with the rifle and helmet. My goodness. I'm getting teary eyed thinking about it.

Tip to anyone in the honor guard on here. Think about calling the local PD and letting them know that you will be shooting blanks. Within 3 minutes a cruiser pulled up with lights going saying someone called saying there were gun shots. . . . . :rolleyes: Granted we were in CT but STILL. . . .
 
Do you have a VFW in your area? These are for vets of foreign wars and they have a Honor guard at most that do funerals for vets. You may also contact the Patriot Guard Riders as they would like to attend.
 
Our protocol we do is simple:

Flanking the burial tent on the left is the US Flag, . . . on the right is the flag that denotes the service: Army, Navy, etc.

At attention, present arms as the casket goes to the tent.

IF the person was a combat vet: boots, helmet, rifle, bayonet, dog tags, etc. (we have the Garand for WW2 and Korea, a M-14 / M-16 for Vietnam, and will be getting an M-4 for current vets, . . . some day).

Folding of the flag, presenting of the flag, presenting of the bronze marker and small flag for it, while a reading is being done about the flag.

Next comes the rifle vollys, . . . we always try for 7 guys / 3 vollys.

Taps on the electronic bugle

We police up what brass we can find, put in a baggie, give to the family.

As a vet, I do not enjoy going to these funerals, but it is always for me a moving experience as we honor those that made it possible for us to be there.

May God bless,
Dwight

PS: Amathis, . . . we didn't do the LEO notification one time, firing the volleys in the city outside the funeral home, . . . you can guess the result
 
A little off topic.....if a veteran served honorably then later turned to a life of crime, are they entitled to a funeral with full military honors?
 
There's a prohibition against the use of military honors or internment in a national cemetery for anyone convicted of a capital offense, even if their discharge from the service was under honorable conditions.

Here's an FAQ on military funeral honors and military cemeteries.
 
I've never seen a funeral with boots and helmet and whatnot. However, if you want to see something moving, visit the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington. The momentos that have been left there are will bring you to tears. They build monuments differently these days.

In the days of the Romans they build grand marble arches. That persisted until relatively recently. The biggest one is probably in Paris but there's one at Gettysburg, too. They also liked to build monuments to generals on horseback. Washington has lots of them and they are impressive. Admirals got monuments, too, but without the horses.

These days, monuments have individual names of the soldiers. That's been done for a long time, of course, in the hometown, usually on some piece of granite near the courthouse. Those monuments, which are not particularly monumental, so to speak, eventually are forgotten as the generations pass away and depending on where they are, are sometimes neglected and become overgrown. That even happens in Washington, D.C. But I've never seen another monument like the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, referring here only to the wall portion.

There is another trend among monuments to wars, or rather to those who fought in wars. The monuments tend to be built starting around thirty years after the end of the war. When soldiers return home they usually are too busy with jobs and families to bother until they are much older. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was much sooner than that but we do things fast these days.
 
Blue Train, . . . about a year ago, I got a call we were doing a funeral, and it was at a cemetary very close to my house.

Bob told me it was a Vietnam vet and I just normally asked, "Combat?"

When he answered "Yes", . . . I just got the stuff together, . . . went to the funeral.

It turned out to be one of the deacons at a church I used to pastor.

This is the Vietnam set up we used for his graveside service.

May God bless,
Dwight
 

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Guys I thank ya'll for your support,and all you are trying to do for me ( my dad ).I have been in touch with my brother-in-law and hope to get things worked out before the time comes to well you know.I too have had a one on one talk with one of the fellows here,and I have to say that if we ( the family ) could afford it we would just ask them to do the service.But its just to far for them to do it for us.I will keep ya'll posted to what I find out and hope we find a group of men who can pull it off.I to will add and say that if we can find a group that will do as good as one has spoke to me about,or as I just saw and read,well lets say to how happy and sad I will be.

Dwight I have to say that you guys put on a really nice deal.When my grandfather passed,they did all you do but not the standing rifle,boots,and helment.Man just reading what you last posted and seeing the pic just brings tears to my eyes.My heart goes out to you guys that do such a great job for our Vets.Just hope that ya'll one day get the same.
 
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