Since I had been chosen to attend the funeral detail class last month, that call came down to me.
So here’s how it worked – first thing Wednesday morning I met the other two people on the detail (a staff sergeant and a corporal) at the CAO. We got the pertinent information about the cemetery, the funeral home, and the next of kin, and signed for the bugle and a practice flag.
From there we went to the finance office. Since the town was four hours away, the burial was at 10:00 in the morning, and we have to be there two hours early, we had to drive up the day before and stay over in a hotel. We got our per diem money ($36 for food) and then went over to our brigade area to practice the procedure. The other two had been doing this for quite some time, so it was basically just to bring me up to speed.
After going through it a couple of times, we broke for lunch. I took care of a few errands, ate at home, packed up my Class A uniform, and then joined up with the detail at the transportation motor pool (where they have the official government “rental cars.”)
The hotel was nice; not too expensive (waste of taxpayer money!) and not to cheap (can’t disgrace the richest country in the world!), it had a refrigerator and a microwave, so I was happy. I had brought along some sandwich stuff, so I was all set for the rest of the evening.
In the morning we went first to the funeral home and met with the director and the next of kin, just to make sure they understood what our role was. From there we went to the cemetery and rehearsed our roles.
The ceremony goes like this:
When the hearse pulls in, we stand at attention and salute. When it stops, we drop the salute and wait until the party takes the casket out of the hearse. We salute again and hold it until the casket is carried out of view, and then we move into place to fold the flag and play Taps.
In a three person detail, two people go to the casket, lift the flag, and hold it while the third person plays Taps (that was my job). When it’s done, the first two fold the flag into a blue triangle, put three brass casings inside (representing duty, honor, and country) and then hand it to the third.
That third person (me) waits until the other two step away, and then turn to the next-of-kin. Rotating the fold so that the fold faces the person, I kneel and say, “This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation, as a token of appreciation for the faithful and honorable service rendered by your loved one.”
I then stand, salute for three seconds, and join the rest of the detail. We stand at parade rest until the next of kin leaves. At that point we are dismissed.
And that’s pretty much the way things went.
As we were about to pack up and leave, CSO called and asked us to stay in town for another day – they got another request for a burial at the same cemetery.
Though there wasn’t a need for an officer, it didn’t make any sense to drive back only to have another team come up, so I said we’d do it. We checked back into the hotel, unpacked, and went out for lunch. That was it for the day.
Friday’s funeral was a bit more difficult than Thursday’s because it was in the afternoon and the weather was more humid. It was a good thing I drank a lot of water the day before because I don’t remember having ever sweat so much. It was so bad the sweat started seeping through to the outside of my collar.
After the ceremony was finished, we changed into our civilian clothes (we don’t travel in uniform) and started the drive back.
When we got back to the transportation motor pool…
Other thoughts
As the first funeral I’d ever attended, I was very moved. And I was glad that it wasn’t a ceremony with full military honors – uniformed pallbearers and a firing team – that would have made me even more nervous.
Folks in Texas are generally very supportive of the military, and many people came up and thanked us not only for doing a good job but also for our service. That meant a lot to me. At both funerals, as I was presenting the flag, both recipients said, “Thank you.” At the second one, a family member seated next to the deceased’s surviving wife broke into tears.
There was another grave I saw there -- that of SPC Braden Long. He died in Iraq on August 4, 2007 – three days short of his twentieth birthday -- and received the Bronze Star.
Whether they volunteered or were drafted, whether they served a career or a single enlistment, and whether quietly discharged or killed in action … it was a very humbling to stand among their graves.
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