Honor guard

The funeral and burial I attended today was of my 89 year old uncle, and there is one detail of it I would like to tell. My uncle, a veteran of World War II, participated in the first landing of U.S. troops in North Africa, where he was wounded in the legs. After he recovered, he was put in charge of a rehabilitation hospital for U.S. soldiers in England, the purpose of which was to get the men in physical and mental shape to return to combat duty. The Army deliberately chose for command of such facilities officers who had themselves been wounded. At the time my uncle was a 25 year old major.

Anyway, when we got to the grave site, in a Jewish cemetery in Westchester County, there were two members of the United States Army Honor Guard there. They performed the majestic ceremony, which is so moving: the formal, extremely slow gestures and salutes, the playing of taps, the ritualistic, meticulous folding of the United States flag which had been draped over the coffin into a perfect triangle, the presentation of the flag to my uncle’s oldest son. Then the soldiers walked away and the burial service commenced.

The U.S. military knows how to do these things right.

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Terry Morris writes:

I’ve attended several funeral services for family members who were WWII veterans, so I know exactly what you mean when you say that the U.S. military knows how to do these things right. Well said.

Charles G. writes:

“The U.S. military knows how to do these things right.”

They do indeed. My own father was buried four years ago by a Naval honor guard. It had a wonderfully calming effect on my mother, who received the flag after the ceremony.

David B. writes:

My father died in the summer of 2005, age 89. In WWII, for a time he was stationed at Camp Robinson, Arkansas, I believe. He had been a truck driver before the war, and was driving for a Colonel. One day, President Franklin Roosevelt came for a visit. A driver was to be selected to drive one of the cars in the motorcade. It was specified that the soldier had to be and look “100 percent American.” My father was chosen for this job.

He could have stayed in the U.S. for the entire war, but he wanted to go overseas. He wound up driving an M8 armored car in Patton’s Third Army during the final push through Germany. His outfit then carried out the occupation of Norway.

At his funeral, there was a United States Army Honor Guard. The ceremony was performed the same way it was for your uncle.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 07, 2008 08:41 PM | Send