God Bless Them.

[Eamonn]

The Father of one of y best friends past away.

The funeral was yesterday.

I went.

Not sure if there is such a thing as a "High Class Funeral"?

But if there is? This was one.

The guys all wore very nice suits, with nice looking top-coats. (It was cold so I wore a sheep's-skin coat.) The Ladies all had designer dresses on and handbags that cost a small fortune.

The parking lot was full of very expensive cars.

The guy who was dead was 91. He had been in a nursing home for a few years, at times he knew what was going on but of late he was out of it a good deal of the time.

He had come from very humble beginnings, but had made good, making several million dollars along the way.

Seems that the longer you are around the less people there are at your funeral.

This wasn't a very big gathering.

The preacher who was in charge of what preachers take charge of at a funeral didn't know the family or the dead guy. So while the prayers and the readings were nice, I kinda missed the personal touch.

As I say it was cold 21 degrees without the wind chill.

Mid way through the ceremony the local VFW came to do what they do for a fallen comrade.

The graveside service was being held a fair distance from the funeral home.

One member of the VFW came and recited from memory a really nice prayer.

Then the Funeral Director opened the doors. The cold air rushed in.

Outside stood 8 or ten very elderly veterans. I'd say that not one was under 75. One guy had very thick dark glasses on. I'm guessing his sight isn't what it once was. One African American fellow in a kinda shabby old coat had to place his portable oxygen container on the ground when the parade was called to order.

They did what they came to do and left.

After the service they weren't around.

I wasn't able to thank them or say "Good job!"

I can't remember when I was so impressed.

These men I feel sure didn't know the fellow who had died.

But they left their nice warm homes to come out on a very cold day to pay tribute and pass on the thanks of a "Grateful Nation".

I'm kinda at a loss for words.

All I can say is God bless each and every one of this fine gentlemen. They did their bit for their country and are still doing it.

Eamonn.

[2eagles]

what a wonderful memory to have on a sad occasion.

[Stosh]

I am not a veteran, but I have studied them for years and there's always one thing that seems to set them apart from any other group and that is that bond that holds commrades-in-arms together.

 

I have one instance of a GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) veterans met at the courthouse at 9:00 am for a 12:00 funeral and the luncheon for them was served at 4:00 pm. The date of the funeral would have put the gentlemen in their 70's and 80's. I couldn't figure out why the times were so spread out over the course of the day, but then after reading the obit in the papers, they had walked from downtown out to the rural cemetery (6 miles out) for internment and honors before walking back to the courthouse for the luncheon.

 

I have often wondered how far anyone would walk for my funeral....

 

One of the men from the reenacting group that sponsors our Venturing Crew goes around to all the cemeteries in the county that had at least one veteran in it, to play taps on Memorial Day weekend. I say weekend because it takes him 2.5 days to do so. He does take 7 hours out of Memorial Day to do honors at 4 cemeteries and march in the parade.

 

A veteran does not make a sacrifice to our country, they ARE a sacrifice for our country. There is nothing we can do to repay that debt.

 

Stosh

[scottteng]

The other group that does a nice job of funerals is the Mason's. They have a good turnout and an impressive ceremony.

[scoutldr]

My dad passed in 1995 of lung cancer. He was 69...way too young, but the cigarettes caught up with him even though he had quit them years before. He served in submarines in WWII in the Pacific theater. 53 subs were lost to enemy action, and the casualty rate for submariners was 50%. When he died, the Submarine Veterans of WWII came and performed a Submarine Memorial Service and acted as pallbearers. My dad wasn't a "joiner", but his "Shipmates" didn't care. He was one of them and they were there to see him off as he sailed "On Eternal Patrol". Over the years, I think about him every day. I've done some reading, and gone through his pictures and papers. Only by the grace of God am I here writing this today. The hardships and utter terror that those men endured had to have been enormous. He never talked about it much. He was an enlisted man in charge of keeping the diesel engines running. He did his job. Every day. HIS subs always came back. They sank lots of enemy ships and even torpedoed a supply train on a bridge. One of his COs got the Medal of Honor. He didn't get any medals or recognition, but he served proudly. Many of his buddies never came back. I don't have many regrets in my life, but the biggest one is that I won't have an American flag on my casket. While I served the Navy as a civilian for 30 years, I was not eligible for active duty and am not a "shipmate". I am in awe of those who served and am eternally grateful for their sacrifice.

[Eamonn]

I agree that the Masons do a nice job.

In fact they were there at the Funeral Home on Sunday night.

While not ever wishing to put any group down. I think the big difference between the Masons being there and the VFW was that he had belonged to the Masons and was a member of the same lodge, some of the guys who were at the ceremony knew him, unlike the Vets who didn't and were doing a service, because it was the right thing to do.

Eamonn.

[Stosh]

If I am not mistaken, I believe the Flag Code states that one does not have to be a veteran to have a flag pall on the casket. I would think that a person who may have dedicated his entire life to something like Boy Scouts and was 4-F during the Vetnam War would be a good candidate for a flag draped casket attended to by a cadre of Eagle scouts.

 

Stosh