Military Funeral Honours
"Honoring Those Who Served"
What Happens At A Military Funeral?
Military Funeral Honors is a way to show the profound appreciation to those who have served in times of war and have faithfully defended our country. This ceremonial paying of respect is the final demonstration the nation can provide to the veteran's family.
Military Funeral Customs
Playing of Taps
“Taps” is played by the military at burial and memorial services of active duty personnel and veterans that served their country honorably. "Taps" is also played at night to signal “lights out” at day’s end.
It shouldn't matter whether a veteran died on the field of battle, or living comfortably at home in old age, or even if they died stateside while on active duty all service members deserve a proper send-off including a live sounding of Taps.
TapsDay is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the skies.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.
Folding The Flag
The Flag will be folded into a triangular shape with only the blue field with stars showing. The shape of the flag when completely folded takes on the appearance of a Cocked Hat, reminding us of the hats worn by the solders, sailors and marines that served under General George Washington and Captain John Paul Jones during the Revolutionary War. These men fought to preserve for us the Rights, Privileges and Freedoms that we all enjoy today.
This triangular shape has always been the traditional way that Burial Flags for United States of America Military personnel have been folded.
Dress-Etiquette Code
During a military funeral, members of the Armed Forces are expected to wear their service dress uniform and be prepared to salute when: the hearse passes in front of them, anytime the flag-draped casket is moved, during the formal gun salute, during the playing of Taps and when the casket is lowered into the ground. All civilian mourners should be dressed in a respectful fashion. During the ceremony, all people present should remain standing unless the chaplain permits sitting during the reading of the committal service. Immediate family members should be allowed to sit at the front in order to receive the folded American flag after the flag-folding honor is carried out. Anyone seated at the grave site should stay seated throughout the entire service.
Draping the Casket
Flags For Military Funerals
These are the words that are usually said to family:
"On behalf of the President of the United States, The United States Army, and a grateful Nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service."
Rifle Salute
The custom of firing three volleys of rifle fire was extended to the burial of all veterans of the Civil War. That practice is still followed today to honor all veterans that have an honorable discharge from the Military.
"This practice originated as an old custom of halting the fighting during a battle, so the dead could be moved from the battlefield. Once each Army cleared the dead and buried their solders, they would fire three volleys of rifle fire over the graves to indicate that the dead had been cared for and they were ready to go back to the fight"(Brenton).
Sea Burial Services for Veterans
The United States Navy offers a sea burial program free of charge for the following individuals:
- Members of the uniformed services,
- Retirees and veterans who were honorably discharged from any branch of the service.
- Dependent family members of active duty personnel, retirees, and uniformed services veterans.
- U.S. civilian marine personnel of the Military Sealift Command.
Both cremated and non-cremated remains can be buried at sea by the Navy. Families cannot attend the service which is performed at a time and date chosen by the Navy (Veterans Affrairs).
This is a real casket dropped off the edge of a ship....
Popular Places To Spread Ashes
Sea Daytona Beach Florida
Fire Island Lighthouse
Sea Fort Lauderdale Florida
Cape Hatteras North Carolina
Cape May New Jersey
Clearwater Florida Sea
Maui Hawaii
Sea Ocean City Maryland
The Chelsea Piers New York Harbor
Why Should We Care?
Hundreds Attend Lonely Veteran's Funeral After Sad Obit Goes Viral
World War II vet Harold Jellicoe "Coe" Percival passed away peacefully in his sleep last month at the age of 99. According to his obituary, Harold had "no close family who can attend his funeral."
Civillians and Military Gather
Crowds Gather for Harold Percival
Funeral In Lytham
Dealing With Death
When one member of a family dies, the impact of that death will be experienced by all of the surviving members of the family, and the experience will have some common factors, but it will also be different for each survivor (Corr). Everyone has a different way of dealing with death, especially from the Military. These heroes need to be recognized and honored for serving their country.
"Not Forgetting The Dead"
Fallen Heroes
Please Remember....
Arlington Cemetary
Honoring Those Who Have Fallen
Private First Class
Deeply intimate thing, to share in “this pain.” To bear witness to a profound loss.
Controversies In The Military
Women In The Military
New opportunities are starting to open up for female soldiers. Female U.S Army soldiers are being asked to partake in a new training course. The training course was designed by Combined Joint Task Force Paladin, which is specifically designed for Female Engagement Team members. The course will help female soldiers in training such as training in unexploded ordnance awareness, biometrics, forensics, evidence collection, tactical questioning, vehicle and personnel searches, instructions on how homemade explosive devices are made and how to recognize if a device is homemade. It is rumored that women may begin Army Ranger training by mid-2015 (Ed Drohan)
Sexual Assult In The Military
According to the Department of Defense’s Military Sexual Assault Report for 2012, an estimated 26,000 members of the United States military, both men and women, were sexually assaulted in that year. The Pentagon survey almost certainly underreports the scale of the issue.
Gays and Lesbians In The Military
The official United States policy on gays serving in the military as of the December 21,1993. The policy
prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service.
YES, Men Too Are Victims Of Sexual Assult
Friendly Fire
Back In 2005
The U.S. Army determined days after Army Ranger Pat Tillman's 2004 death in Afghanistan that the former professional football player had been killed by friendly fire, but kept it secret for weeks and even destroyed evidence, Army officials said May 4, 2005. A 1,600-page report by Brig. Gen. Gary Jones of the Army Special Operations Command found that the Army did not tell his family or the public that Tillman, pictured in this undated photograph, had been killed mistakenly by fellow Rangers until weeks after his nationally televised memorial service, officials said.
The latest investigation showed that soldiers in Afghanistan knew almost immediately that they had killed Tillman by mistake in what they believed was a firefight with enemies on a tight canyon road. The investigation also revealed soldiers later burned Tillman's uniform and body armor. That information was slow to make it back to the United States, the report said, and Army officials here were unaware that his death on April 22, 2004, was fratricide when they notified the family that Tillman had been shot
(Josh White, Washington Post)
Friendly Fire Leads to Medal for Marine
Shortly after sunrise, Marine Cpl. Luis C. Garcia and the sniper team were already on edge, having spotted some unusual activity from their hilltop perch in southern Afghanistan's notorious Helmand province.
Military officials say that, while it is regrettable, such incidents are bound to occur during the messy business of battle. The Defense Department reports the numbers of deaths, but not injuries, caused by friendly fire -- or fratricide, said Bill Speaks, a department spokesman.
The department blamed friendly fire for 16 deaths during the conflict in Afghanistan, 37 deaths during Operation Iraqi Freedom and 35 during Operation Desert Storm in 1990-91, he said.
The topic is a touchy one for the military. Officials investigate each incident, and sometimes hold troops accountable for mistakes, Walsh said. He said he did not know what happened to the snipers in Garcia's case. (Chicago Tribune)
Report Says Friendly Fire Caused Soldier's Death Jun 24, 2013
Friendly-fire Incident Leads to Dismissal Jul 04, 2012
DEADLY TRADITION: Recent Spike in Hazing-Related Suicides Exposes Deeply Entrenched, Hidden Military Rituals
On April 3, 2011, my nephew, 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, was serving his second year in the Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, when he was hazed for over three hours by two of his fellow soldiers because he, too, fell asleep on duty.
At the urging of their sergeant, who told them that “peers should correct peers,” they punched and kicked him. They poured the contents of a full sandbag onto his face, causing him to choke and cough as it filled his nose and mouth.
Lance Cpl Harry Lew
Twenty-two minutes after the hazing stopped, he, too, used his own gun to commit suicide, in a foxhole he had been forced to dig.
His parents and I waited patiently for justice to be served and watched in horror and disbelief as his perpetrators’ behavior was dismissed, with one lance corporal receiving just a month in jail, and the other two Marines found not guilty.
In both cases, military defense attorneys claimed that the perpetrators of hazing had suffered enough.
Our young people make a great sacrifice when they go off to war. They are in mentally tough, physically dangerous situations all the time. We must take every mistake that puts the lives of our soldiers at risk seriously, whether it is falling asleep on guard duty or something else.
Military Hazing
C Tad Donoho reacts to pain inside a bunker at Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, in 2008 after his infantry platoon mates gave him a ‘pink belly’ ceremony to mark his birthday. The ‘pink belly’ is a widely-practiced ceremonial tradition administered upon junior-ranked soldiers by their peers and leaders in which the receiving soldier’s stomach is repeatedly struck until it begins to turn pink and bruise
(The Military Suicide Report)
Created By Wende Haase
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Email: whaase@wolfmail.stritch.edu
Location: Milwaukee, WI, United States